The Eredivisie is back! And if the opening weekend is anything to go by this season is going to be just as goal and action packed as any other, with defending champions Ajax and Europa League regulars AZ Alkmaar hitting the ground running.
Last season's under achievers Feyenoord travelled across Rotterdam to relegation play-off survivors Excelsior in the opening game of the season on Friday evening, beating them 2-0. Dutch legend Ronald Koeman has been given the task of returning Feyenoord to their former glories after being named their new manager over the summer. And it was Guyon Fernandez, who played for home side Excelsior last season, who netted the first goal of the Koeman era after 56 minutes to make it 1-0. Leendert van Steensel put through his own net twenty minutes from time to make it two and seal the win for travelling Feyenoord.
FC Groningen opened their campaign with a disappointing 2-1 loss away at ten men Roda JC. Roda were reduced to ten men on thirteen minutes when Ruud Vormer was given a straight red for his challenge that saw Leandro Bacuna slam home the resulting spot kick. Despite their numerical disadvantage it was the hosts who scored next with just thirteen minutes left to play when Mark-Jan Fledderus levelled the game, and Sanharib Malki earned all three points for ten men Roda with his goal two minutes from time.
NEC Nijmegen grabbed a point in dramatic fashion at Heerenveen in their opening game, as it ended 2-2 after a goal packed second half. Second half goals from Oussama Assaidi and Luciano Narsingh looked to have bagged Heerenveen all three points only for an action-packed last ten minutes that included two goals. NEC's Bram Nuytinck and Stefan Nijland were the heroes, and a sending off for Heerenveen's Viktor Elm meant the tie ended all square.
This wasn't the only game last Saturday that saw a lot of late goal mouth action, as newly promoted RKC Waalwijk also came from two goals down late on to earn themselves a point. Everton Ramos da Silva put visiting Heracles a goal to the good just after the half hour mark, and when Glynor Plet doubled that lead with ten minutes left the win looked all but certain. However the Eredivisie new boys saw their chance to gain something from the game when Heracles' Antoine van der Linden saw red in the 85th minute. And a penalty from Robert Braber a minute later followed by an equaliser from Rick ten Voorde on 89 earned Waalwijk a point.
A game that didn't see as many goals as Saturday's other games was VVV Venlo's 0-0 draw with FC Utrecht, despite it having yet another late sending off. The only talking point of an otherwise dull game at De Koel was the 79th minute dismissal of Rogier Molhoek, reducing the home side to ten men only twelve minutes after the player had come on as a substitute!
Sunday saw all three of last season's title chasers in action, starting with a disappointing first game for PSV, who led the Eredivisie for the majority of last season. They lost 3-1 in Alkmaar.
AZ made the game look relatively easy, as goals from Maarten Martens (26) and Nick Viergever (40) gave them a two goal cushion.
Dries Mertens halved the deficit on the stroke of half time, only for a confident looking Alkmaar to open the gap back up through former Hull City striker Jozy Altidore in the 80th minute on his debut. Another late red saw AZ reduced to ten as Niklas Moisander went for an early bath, but it proved too late for Eindhoven to capitalise on as the home side took all three points from their opener.
Defending champions Ajax had no such troubles in their opening game of the campaign as they ran out 4-1 winners over De Graafschap. The Amsterdammers were given an early scare however as their hosts took the lead after quarter of an hour when Ted Van de Pavert's header made it 1-0. It was all Ajax from there on in though.
Miralem Sulejmani levelled the game just seven minutes after his side had fallen behind, and Derk Boerrigter put Ajax ahead in the 31st minute. The defending champions continued to look impressive after the break, and two goals in three minutes, a second from Sulejmani and another from Theo Janssen, made it 4-1 to ensure Ajax got their campaign of to a winning start.
FC Twente, who won the Johan Cruyff Shield with a 2-1 win over Ajax at the end of July, also got off to winning ways with a 1-0 away win against NAC Breda. Austrian international Marc Janko's well-taken spot kick, scored after twenty seven minutes, was the only difference between the two sides despite a late push from Breda.
Sunday's final game saw ADO Den Haag and Vitesse Arnhem play out a bore draw as their game ended 0-0 at the Kyocera stadion. Both sides created chances, but they were few and far between and a point each was probably a fair result and something both sides will be happy to take.