PSV drop points against Vitesse; Excelsior hammer Cambuur

PSV drew in Arnhem against Vitesse on Sunday. The Eindhovenaren could not take advantage of the losses by their rivals Ajax and AZ Alkmaar. Xavi Simons had given the KNVB cup holders the lead before an own goal by Ibrahim Sangare leveled the match.

Ruud van Nistelrooij’s side made the perfect start, and it won’t come as a surprise that the Eredivisie’s joint top scorer got the goal in Xavi Simons. An unfortunate touch by a Vitesse defender sent Simons through, who took his time cutting inside of the defender before putting the ball into the near corner after only 7 minutes played.

But similarly to PSV’s last victory in the Eredivisie away to RKC Waalwijk, they could not build on the quick start. Only this time, they were punished for it. A fantastic cross from Enzo Cornelisse bounced off Ibrahim Sangare into his own net.

PSV remains third but is level on points with fourth-placed AZ. The Eindhoven side is two points behind Ajax and eight points behind league leaders Feyenoord.

Excelsior ended an eight-match winless run with a surprising hammering of the bottom-of-the-league Cambuur, winning 4-1. The Rotterdam side had the match won at halftime as they scored four goals in 35 minutes.

Kenzo Goudmijn started the goalscoring off after six minutes taking advantage of some sloppy build-up play by the visitors. Leon Bergsma was unlucky for Cambuur as Excelsior’s second goal will go down as an own goal for the defender. A cross hit Bergsma’s knee before rolling into the goal.

Siebe Horemans made it 3-0 in the 20th minute. A free kick landed perfectly for the defender, who only had to prod the ball home. But there was no luck involved for Excelsior’s final goal of the day. Marouan Azarkan, who, along with his teammate Redouan El Yaakoubi refused to join the two teams in the pre-match photo for the one love campaign, beat three players before lobbing the ball over the defence for Lazaros Lamprou, who finished it off with a beautiful volley into the far corner. Cambuur got a goal back in the second half through Alex Bangura, but it was only a consolation.

It was a blow for Cambuur, who are now 8 points away from the first relegation safety spot, which is taken by Excelsior. FC Emmen are five points ahead of Cambuur in the spot for a relegation playoff. Excelsior is two points ahead of Emmen and will hope this is the turnaround for the side.