FC Twente and PSV both missed golden opportunities to further their title aspirations this past weekend as mid-table sides held them both at home. This left the door open for Ajax to rejoin the title race as their 2-0 win over Groningen now leaves them just three points off of top spot.
Alkmaar dropped out of the top four after they could only muster a 1-1 home draw with NAC Breda on Friday evening. Both of the game's goals were scored from the spot, Rasmus Elm converting after 32 minutes, and Donny Gorter doing the same to level it and earn his team a point just before the hour mark.
As a result it is ADO Den Haag that now occupy that last Europa League spot after they were 1-0 victors over Vitesse Arnhem. The only goal of the game came through Danny Buijs when he found the top corner on 28 minutes, but the visiting Vitesse were lucky it wasn't more than just the one by full time.
VVV Venlo are now destined to finish in the bottom three after a 4-1 hammering from NEC Nijmegen in their own back yard. It started when Lorenzo Davids opened the scoring on 22 after latching on to Björn Vleminckx’s ball.
John Goossens was the star of the show however, as he went on to be involved in the rest of NEC's goals, grabbing his in the 58th minute. Vleminckx, hotly linked with a move to England due to his 19-goal haul so far this season, made it three via Goosens. And Goossens grabbed his second of the night with nine minutes left on the clock. Venlo's Ahmed Musaab managed to make it 4-1 from the spot in stoppage time.
Excelsior and Graafschap played out a pretty uneventful 0-0 draw at the Stadion Woudestein on Saturday evening. Neither team ever really looked like scoring at all, with hardly any goalmouth action at either end, nor did it look like both teams were unhappy to settle for a point.
Willem II Tilburg's game with Heracles was a very different matter though. The Eredivisie's basement club once again had a thrilling game in which the ball was in the net no fewer than eight times, alas in losing 6-2 to their visitors.
However it was a dream start for the hosts as Heracles were reduced to ten men within the first five minutes, Andreas Lasnik scoring the resulting penalty. But just two minutes later Everton Ramos da Silva scored his and his side's first of the night to make it 1-1. He grabbed another in the 40th minute and Willy Overtoom hit a well-placed penalty to ensure their side went in ahead at the break.
Heracles continued to not let their numerical disadvantage bother them as Everton completed his hat trick in the 58th minute. Denis Halilovic got back a little pride for Tilburg when he made it 4-2, but that was short-lived as two goals in the last two minutes from Overtoom and Kwame Quansah capped off the rout.
Twente remain top despite only managing a point as they drew 1-1 with Roda. And despite it being a game that had pretty much everything a fan could ask for from it, there was nothing of note until the 53rd minute when Bryan Ruiz spurned a great chance to put Preud'homme's men ahead as he saw his poor penalty saved.
Twente were made to pay as Boldiszar Bodor made it 1-0 to Roda with just thirteen minutes left to play. However the action was far from over, when six minutes later Roda keeper Mateusz Prus saw red for his challenge on Ruiz, and Theo Janssen scored from the resulting penalty. Twente went down to 10 by the end of the game as Roasales Roberto was also dismissed, and both sides left with a point.
PSV could have reclaimed top spot with a win over visiting Heerenveen, but they could only manage a draw themselves as matters ended 2-2. Again all of the game's action came in the second half, and Jermain Lens opened the scoring as he put PSV a goal to the good with his tenth of the campaign in the 58th. But Heerenveen squared up the tie through Oussama Assaidi twelve minutes later and then turned the game on it's head as Bas Dost gave them the lead just three minutes after the equaliser. It was only a very late Ola Toivonen effort that stopped Heerenveen claiming a famous win in Eindhoven, as his injury time goal earned PSV an invaluable point.
Ajax however did not miss their chance to get back in to the title race as their 2-0 win over Groningen leaves them just a point behind PSV and three behind leaders Twente. For most of the game it had looked like they would be following suit and only managing a point. But with just over twenty minutes left to play at the Amsterdam ArenA two goals in four minutes, from Miraelm Sulejmani and Jan Vertonghen, secured the win for Ajax, adding yet another twist to this season's run-in.
Elsewhere, FC Utrecht were well beaten when they played host to Feyenoord who put four past the home side without reply in a great all round performance. The Rotterdam side were off the mark after just eight minutes when Leroy Fer's header found the net. Kelvin Leerdam made it two before the break and Diego Bieswar added a third in the 58th minute. Despite a torrent of abuse from the home fans that caused the referee to threaten to call off the game, the match continued and Feyenoord added a fourth and final goal through Georgino Wijnaldum in the 65th minute.