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PSV AND AJAX KEEP PRESSURE ON TWENTE
Demy de Zeeuw - double strike.
PSV Eindhoven and Ajax kept up the pressure on Eredivisie leaders FC Twente with thumping home victories on Sunday afternoon.
A late goal by Bryan Ruiz secured Twente a 1-0 win over Vitesse Arnhem on Saturday night and sent Steve McClaren's team five points clear, but second-placed PSV and third-spotted Ajax remained in the hunt with comfortable wins over Heracles Almelo and Heerenveen respectively.
Ibrahim Afellay opened the scoring at the Philips Stadion on the stroke of half-time, after Heracles had had goalkeeper Martin Pieckenhagen sent off just before the half-hour.
Second-half goals from Balazs Dzsudzsak, Ola Toivonen and substitute Jagos Vukovic sealed the rout.
Ajax blasted Heerenveen away before half-time as they recorded a crushing 5-1 triumph.
All six goals came before the break, with Martin Jol's side surging 4-0 ahead before Heerenveen managed to respond.
Demy de Zeeuw hit the opening goal after seven minutes and added the second after 24.
Marko Pantelic stretched the lead four minutes later and Luis Suarez heaped the misery on Heerenveen from the penalty spot in the 35th minute.
Goran Popov pulled one back after 39 minutes but Ismail Aissati's close-range finish restored the Amsterdammers' four-goal cushion 60 seconds later.
VVV-Venlo also enjoyed an emphatic triumph, posting their biggest win of the season with a 5-0 thrashing of Sparta Rotterdam.
Adil Auassar, Achmed Ahahaoui and Sandro Calabro (two) ensured the match was over as a contest before half-time and Kevin Van Dessel completed the rout 20 minutes from time.
Elsewhere, Feyenoord and FC Utrecht cancelled each other out in Rotterdam.
The match was a clash of fourth and fifth in the Eredivisie but the 44,000 crowd made their displeasure clear as neither side produced any real flair in a drab, goalless encounter.
An equaliser by Frank Demouge 15 minutes from time saw Willem II claim a draw against ADO Den Haag despite the visitors playing for almost an hour with 10 men.
Ahmed Ammi was shown a red card after 37 minutes for a two-footed lunge on Jan-Arie Van Der Heijd but it was the struggling visitors who took the lead midway through the second half through Karim Soltani before Demouge's intervention.
On Saturday, leaders FC Twente had established a five-point lead at the top after leaving it late to beat Vitesse Arnhem.
Saidi Ntibazonkiza had the final say in a six-goal thriller as struggling NEC battled for a 3-3 draw against NAC Breda.
Ntibazonkiza grabbed NEC's third goal eight minutes from the end of a match which they had led at the hour mark, only for Matthew Amoah's double to turn the game in NAC's favour.
Bjorn Vleminckx had put NEC ahead after just 10 minutes but an own goal four minutes later from Niels Wellenberg cancelled that out.
Ntibazonkiza put NEC in front again after 54 minutes but Amoah's goals (62 and 78) looked to have put NAC on course for three points.
NAC are pushing for a top-six place while NEC's form has been poor this season, and the team from Nijmegen remain in the bottom three despite Ntibazonkiza finding their late leveller.
AZ Alkmaar scored three times in the last 20 minutes to complete a rollercoaster 4-2 win over Roda JC.
The visitors went in front after just three minutes but found themselves 2-1 down after a spirited Roda fightback.
But Rasmus Elm, Jeremain Lens and Jonathas all found the net late on before Jonathas was sent off in the last minute.
RKC Waalwijk benefited from the early dismissal of FC Groningen goalkeeper Luciano to register only their third Eredivisie victory of the season in a 3-1 scoreline.
Luciano received a straight red card for hauling down RKC striker Charlison Benschop outside the area after 11 minutes, and the hosts did not take long to make their man advantage pay.
Benschop opened the scoring after 18 minutes while Ruud Berger made it 2-0 after half an hour.
Tim Matavz pulled one back for Groningen but Benschop's second of the night in the second period ensured RKC posted a rare and welcome win.
