Now for an update on the Eredivisie, and a look at how the football giants of the Dutch lowlands have been fairing. To be honest there has been little change in the standings. As the weeks move on AZ Alkmaar continue to exuberate a dominance on Dutch football, which resembes Manchester Utd's current control in the Premiership.

Last weekend they again demonstrated how accomplished they have become, particularly at home, by the way in which they dominated and dismissed FC Groningen 3-0. The visitors are far from incompetent either, as they themselves are chasing a Uefa Cup spot in the table, and their defeat left them still in sixth place. For those who flutter on football, AZ Alkmaar for now are the Dutch equivalent of backing Celtic or Rangers to win a league game, particularly when at home.

A brace from the unexpected source, Graziano Pellè, helped AZ on their way. The Italian is still unproven in the Netherlands, and his efforts at the weekend made it six goals for the club since his arrival from Serie B at the beginning of last season. The first came after only three minutes, when Swerts crossed delightfully from the right by-line and Pellè ghosted in to steal a free header with the defence frozen.

That was the one chance converted from at least half a dozen clear opportunities that AZ were to have in the first half. In the second period they continued to dominate, and as the chances came it was only a matter of time until Groningen were made to pay. Finally, AZ were rewarded with a second goal in the 57th minute, this time from a corner, Graziano Pellè rose to head in the set-piece and stop any thoughts of a Groningen revival.

Pellè was denied a hat-trick of headers by a goal-line clearance, before their third and final goal came in the final five minutes. Moussa Dembélé intercepted a pass in his own half before going on a surging run through midfield, he reached the edge of the area and then unleashed a great inside-out curling shot into the goal.

Consequently Louis van Gaal's team are now unbeaten in twenty-five league games. Since they lost their only games so far in the first two Eredivisie fixtures of the season, they have gone on to win twenty and draw three! With no European commitments and still in the domestic KNVB Cup, they have not lost any game in fact since the 13th of September. They now look like they will surely chase down and secure only the second Eredivsie title in the club's history.

As for the teams trying to catch AZ, there was more of the same. Steve McClaren and his team FC Twente continue to defy those expecting an implosion. After being unlucky in their Uefa Cup defeat against Marseille in mid-week, FC Twente maintained their own four month unbeaten run back in the league. They were at home facing relegation strugglers ADO Den Haag, and they managed a 1-0 win to again close the gap between their second spot and AZ to a mere nine points!

The solitary goal came from a likely source, Blaise Kufo swooped to head in Ron Stam's cross, rather like Yordan Letchkov did for Bulgaria at World Cup '94. The captain is an incredible goal machine, and despite the fact he'll be 34 at the end of this season, he's still very good. Kufo has more goals for FC Twente this season than anyone else, not too surprising as he has done that for the past five seasons, and Sunday's effort was his one hundredth league goal for the club.

After last night McClaren's team is still on for an unlikely domestic double, they defeated relegation bound De Graafschap 1-0 in the KNVB Cup quarter-final, although they had to wait until the end of stoppage time to do so. It would cap an impressive first season in Holland if McClaren could go on to win the Dutch equivalent of the FA Cup, as with the league though AZ Alkmaar are still standing in their way...

In rounding up the remainder of the Eredivisie meetings, Ajax continued their recent resurgence by beating FC Utrecht 2-0 away from home. They may not have been entirely convincing but Marco van Basten's team have now won three league games in a row, a sharp contrast with their terrible form of a month ago.

The fans of FC Utrecht were certainly not impressed with Ajax's performance, bad-taste chants and an array of missiles onto the pitch voiced their displeasure. Ajax managed to keep their focus though and rounded off a good week that also saw them progress in the Uefa Cup at the expense of Fiorentina. They remain third in the league, three points behind FC Twente.

Meanwhile the reigning champions PSV provided more evidence of their inconsistencies and why they will not retain their title this season. In an exciting match they eventually went down 3-2 at home, and were leap-frogged in the table by Heerenveen. PSV went behind early and responded well by dominating the play and hitting back with two goals. The second half saw Heerenveen claim an equaliser soon after the re-start, chances then came for both teams to snatch a win. With the match looking like it was heading for a draw the final minute yielded a penalty for the away team and Danijel Pranjic stepped up to inflict defeat on PSV.

It was actually PSV's first league defeat since mid-November, but too many draws and a poor November overall have left the champions in 5th place and they need to hit their stride if they want to claim Champions League qualification. As for Heerenveen, they have hit form at the right time, their performances in the last three months have seen them rise up the table and they could yet catch up with Ajax.

Feyenoord also toiled once again, the club may be celebrating it's centenary but their path back to being challengers for the Eredivisie will go on for the foreseeable. By the usual standards expected, Feyenoord have had a terrible season, and last weekend they were lucky not to lose again. This time they showed some resolve and twice came back from being a goal behind.

Their opponents were Vitesse Arnhem, who also reside in mid-table just above Feyenoord. Thankfully for the home team they were able to rely on the veteran Roy Makaay, his equaliser saved Feyenoord with twenty minutes remaining. Unfortunately they were not able to push on for only their fourth league win since the end of November, as a result they still languish in eleventh place and the immediate future remains bleak.

Finally news of Roda JC, after losing four of their previous five league games, times were looking desperate for the team from Kerkrade. They have never been relegated from the Eredivisie but this season they have been cannon-fodder for most teams. Their proud record was given a boost at the weekend though, a timely 3-1 win over fellow relegation candidates De Graafschap may yet go a long way to preserving their status.

Probably Roda JC's most comfortable game for quite a while, the win has increased the gap between them and second-bottom De Graafschap to four points. Roda JC are now just two points adrift at third-bottom of the table and have a chance of avoiding the relegation play-off system. Amazingly they still have the KNVB Cup as a welcome distraction, and tonight they face a very winnable quarter-final against Eredivisie's bottom club Volendam. I just hope for Roda JC's sake that they don't go on to emulate Middlesbrough's famous cup-finals and relegation season (1996-97).....

 

Results: PSV 2-3 Heerenveen, Willem II 0-3 Heracles, NAC 3-1 Sparta Rotterdam, Roda JC 3-1 De Graafschap, AZ 3-0 Groningen, FC Utrecht 0-2 Ajax, Twente 1-0 ADO Den Haag, Volendam 1-1 NEC, Feyenoord 2-2 Vitesse.