This season's Eredivisie has come to a close (aside from the Europa League and relegation play-offs) and it's the giants of Dutch football Ajax who claimed the crown in dramatic fashion by beating defending champions and title rivals FC Twente on the final day. And a goalless draw for PSV, who led for so much of the campaign, left them in third meaning they miss out on Champion's League football next season.
Ajax won their first Eredivisie crown since 2004 by beating Twente 3-1 in front of a 47,000 strong crowd at the Amsterdam ArenA. The hosts were beaten 3-2 by the Enschede side last weekend in the KNVB Beker final but it was to be a different story in the league as Siem De Jong fired them into the lead with 23 minutes gone. And it only got worse for Twente after the break as Denny Landzaat put through his own net to make it 2-0. Theo Janssen cut the deficit a minute later but De Jong's second of the night 12 minutes from time killed off any hopes of Twente winning back-to-back titles, making it 3-1 and ensuring his side were Eredivisie Champions.
PSV and FC Groningen ended what had been a great season for both of them with a whimper as they drew 0-0 despite both having something to play for. A win for PSV would have earned them a place in next season's Champion's League and Groningen now have to earn a place in the Europa League through the play-offs. Neither side really got started in this game, and Groningen failed to take advantage of PSV having to play the closing stages with ten men as the game ended goalless.
AZ Alkmaar were lucky Groningen settled for a draw as they were hammered 5-1 by Utrecht, but clinched 4th spot due to Groningen's failure to win. Belgian Dries Mertens was the star of the show and scored two in two minutes (10 and 12) to put Utrecht 2-0 up. The game's next goal didn't come until the 65th minute when Maarten Martens pulled one back for AZ, but three goals in the last ten minutes for Utrecht, two from Ricky van Wolfswinkel and a third for Mertens, completed the rout and made it 5-1.
Excelsior faces a relegation play-off despite an impressive 4-1 away win over Vitesse that almost saw the sides switch places in the table. Guyon Fernandez made it 1-0 to Excelsior with just over half an hour gone, only for Marti Riverola to level things up in the 62nd minute. But it was the late push from the visitors that had the home fans scared, as a brace from Geert Arend Roorda and an injury time strike from Tim Vincken made it 4-1, just a goal short of a result that would have seen Vitesse drop into the relegation play-offs instead of Excelsior.
Venlo were already doomed to the relegation play-offs before their game with De Graafschap who secured survival with a 1-0 win. Rydell Poepon scored the goal that would ensure his side are in the Eredivisie next season, and despite both sides having great chances throughout the game it ended 1-0.
With Willem II's relegation already confirmed and Breda stranded in mid-table, neither team had anything to play for, and it showed. The only goal of the game came when visiting NAC's Julian Jenner found the back of the net with just a minute left on the clock, condemning Tilburg to their 25th and final defeat of the season!
Feyenoord ended what has been a very poor season with a 1-1 draw against NEC Nijmegen. The Rotterdammers had a slim chance of making the Europa League play-offs heading into the game, but failure to win and other results going against them ended those hopes. Lasse Schöne fired NEC ahead in spectacular fashion as his 30 yard strike found the top corner after 12 minutes to make it 1-0. Luc Castaignos, who will join Inter Milan in the summer, made it 1-1 just before the break with his 15th goal of the season, and that's the way it stayed.
Heracles secured their place in the Europa League play-offs with a 3-0 win over ADO Den Haag, who are also in the play-offs. Heracles only needed a point to give themselves a chance of competing in Europe next season, but a brace from Willy Overtoom and a third from Samuel Armenteros, all coming in the last twenty minutes, ensured all three points for the hosts. And if the sides meet again in the play-offs ADO will be hoping it won't be a repeat of this result.
Roda and Heerenveen played out a dull 0-0 draw with both sides fates already being confirmed (Europa play-offs for Roda and mid-table for Heerenveen). The game didn't come to life until the last ten minutes when both sides saw chances come back of the woodwork, but neither side found the net and it ended 0-0.