Twente lose to NEC; Ajax survive scare to win 4-1
FC Twente lost on Saturday to NEC Nijmegen in the Eredvisie. A goal from Calvin Verdonk continued the home side's good form after the winter break. Rogier Meijer's side had drawn 2-2 in de Kuip against Feyenoord last weekend.
Koki Ogawa had gotten away from the Twente defence several times as Joseph Oosting's side struggled to create any meaningful offense.
Verdonk's winner was a beauty—a free kick from around thirty yards, which went straight into the top corner. Lars Unnerstall had no chance with his dive.
FC Twente got a man sent off in the 51st minute. Max Bruns was initially given a yellow card by referee Martin van den Kerkhof, but it was changed to a red after a VAR review. The centre-back had come in with his studs up to the back of Sontje Hansen's leg.
Twente are now five points behind Feyenoord and three ahead of AZ. They are in the third spot. NEC has climbed to seventh place with their two successful results in a row.
Ajax beat RKC Waalwijk 4-1 at home. It was not as easy as the scoreline suggests, as RKC equalized through Michiel Kramer. Brian Brobbey, Kristian Hlynsson, and Steven Berghuis scored the Ajax goals.
The Amsterdammers took the lead within ten minutes. Berghuis crossed to the far post to captain Steven Bergwijn, who headed it across goal to Brobbey to tap home from close range.
The RKC equalizer was a bizarre goal. A cross from the wing was aimed at Denilho Cleonise in the Ajax box. Jorrel Hato blocked it with a slide tackle; however, goalkeeper Diant Ramaj lost sight of the ball and ran past it. Hato slid again with the ball, hitting Ramaj and Cleonise on the floor before Kramer ran across the six-yard box to toe-poke it into the empty net.
Ajax is Kramer's favorite opponent. He has scored seven times against the Amsterdammers. However, he has not yet beat Ajax.
Berghuis hit the crossbar on the half-hour mark after a mistake by Yassin Oukili. Ajax retook the lead five minutes later. Kenneth Taylor played the ball into the feet of Brobbey, who spun away from his marker brilliantly before finishing with his weaker left foot.
Hlynsson made the 3-1 look easy after 64 minutes. Hato played the ball into the Icelandic youngster, who took a touch before placing the ball into the opposite corner of where Etienne Vaessen was standing from outside the area.
Ajax were awarded a penalty in the 69th minute. Bergwijn’s shot was blocked by the hand of RKC defender Dario Van den Buijs. The penalty was not awarded initially by Bas Nijhuis but was given after a VAR review.
Bergwijn is usually the penalty taker, but with Brobbey having the chance to score a hat trick, he let the striker take it. Brobbey's attempt was saved brilliantly by Vaessen, who knocked it out for a corner.
John van 't Schip's side put the game to bed in the final few minutes through Steven Berghuis. A counterattack was led by substitute Carlos Forbs, who carried the ball as far as possible before releasing it to Berghuis. The experienced midfielder took a touch and steadied himself before curling it perfectly into the corner.
Ajax is in fifth place after this weekend's results. Three points behind AZ Alkmaar. RKC is in a relegation play-off spot and is five points away from Heracles Almelo and FC Utrecht, who are in the last remaining safe spots.
New AZ manager Maarten Martens made a less-than-ideal start to his new job on Saturday. The Alkmaarders drew 2-2 at home to PEC Zwolle.
Lennart Thy had given the away side the lead just before the hour mark, with Vangelis Pavlidis getting his 19th league goal of the season from the penalty spot to equalize in the 77th minute.
Zwolle shocked the crowd in the AFAS Stadium by taking the lead with four minutes remaining in the regular time through Odysseus Velanas. PEC manager Johnny Jansen will have thought he was on the way to a huge victory, but midfielder Sven Mijnans got a 94th-minute equalizer from a corner.