The Netherlands' flagship league is back in full swing after this season's third round of games this past weekend. FC Twente, pipped to the post for the Eredivisie title just three months ago, are the only team left with a 100% record after defending champions Ajax and a rejuvenated Feyenoord side could only muster draws.
Eredivisie new boys RKC Waalwijk kicked off the weekend in impressive style on Friday night by beating Roda JC 2-0 away from home, earning them their first win of the season. After a relatively uneventful first half that ended goalless, it only took Waalwijk defender Ard Van Peppen three minutes of the second half to get his name on the score sheet to make it 1-0. Geoffrey Castillion secured his side's first win of the campaign when his strike made it 2-0 with seven minutes to go.
FC Twente stormed to the top of the Eredivisie table this past Saturday as they hammered a so far unconvincing Heerenveen 5-1 at the Abe Lenstra Stadion. Dutch international Luuk De Jong started the scoring with the first real chance of the game after 27 minutes, opening the proverbial floodgates as a second from Willem Janssen and a third from Marc Janko on the stroke of half time made it 3-0.
Co Adriaanse's men continued to dominate after the break, and a twenty yard strike from Emir Bajrami made it four in the 66th minute. Luciano Narsingh's 87th minute strike looked to have salvaged some pride for the home side three minutes from time, only for Janko to grab his second and Twente's fifth from the spot just two minutes later.
NAC Breda came back to earn their first point of the season after they went two goals down to visiting FC Groningen. Groningen looked to have the points in the bag by the break with a Leandro Bacuna goal in the 12th minute and a second through Petter Andersson a minute before half time giving them a two goal cushion. However Breda came out stronger in the second half and were back in the game by the 48th minute when Alex Schalk's goal made it 2-1. And less than ten minutes later the hosts were level through Anthony Lurling. Breda continued to press but both teams left with a point as the game ended 2-2.
Vitesse Arnhem continued their unbeaten start to the new season with a 2-1 win over FC Utrecht. Ivory Coast international Wilfried Bony gave Vitesse a 1-0 lead with only six minutes gone, from the spot after Alexander Gerndt's foul, but Utrecht were back level twenty minutes later when Jacob Mulenga equalised from close range.
The game's pivotal moment didn't come until the 86th minute when Utrecht's Marcus Nilsson was shown a straight red for his challenge on Frank van der Struijk. Vitesse soon took advantage of the uneven numbers in the 89th minute, Wilfried grabbing his and Vitesse's second of the game to make it 2-1 and earn all three points for his side.
SC Excelsior played host to De Graafschap on Saturday, and managed to grab their first point of the season and deny Graafschap their first win, even if they did leave it late. Rydell Poepon netted his second of the season to put the visitor's ahead with twenty seven minutes gone, and they led for almost an hour as it took Excelsior until the 83rd minute to find a reply, Leendert van Steensel equalising from inside the box to make it 1-1.
Ajax relinquished their 100% record in the league this season to unexpected opponents as they could only manage a 2-2 draw away at VVV Venlo. However, they were lucky to get a point having gone 2-0 down, due in no small part to the fact that the defending champions squandered chance after chance during the opening 45 minutes.
Ahmed Musa was the Venlo hero, scoring both goals for the hosts in the 47th and 60th minutes. But less than ten minutes later it was all square, Ajax scoring two goals in as many minutes through Theo Janssen and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
Feyenoord also lost their 100% start, and conceded their first goal of the season, with a 1-1 draw away at Heracles. It took 63 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, Heracles' Glynor Plet finding the back of the net. But the home side couldn't hold on for all three points as Guyon Fernandez made it 1-1 with twelve minutes left on the clock, at least keeping Ronald Koeman's unbeaten start intact.
PSV put in their first convincing performance of the season as they beat one of last season's surprise packages ADO Den Haag 3-0, leaving them still in search of their first win of the campaign. Dries Mertens, who would play a part in all three of Eindhoven's goals, scored the first with 21 minutes gone. Just three minutes later Mertens turned provider so that team mate Georgino Wijnaldum could make it 2-0. And the game was effectively over as a contest before the break as Swedish international Ola Toivonen latched on to another Mertens ball to make it three. ADO played well during the second half but failed to find the net.
A stunning second half performance from AZ Alkmaar on Sunday afternoon sees them move up to 5th in the table after they beat NEC Nijmegen 4-0 at the AFAS Stadion. New signing Jozy Altidore continued to impress as he opened AZ's account for the afternoon on 54 minutes. The dismissal of Pavel And a second from Altidore on 73 and a close range finish from Niklas Moisander five minutes from time made it 4-0, which is how it ended.