Feyenoord leave it late to beat RKC; Vitesse and Volendam draw in relegation clash
Feyenoord made hard work of beating RKC at home on Sunday. RKC goalkeeper Ettienne Vaessen was sent off after 35 minutes of playing, but despite the numerical advantage, it took a late goal by Mats Wieffer to secure the win for the Rotterdammers.
Arne Slot's side made the right start. Santiago Gimenez had a finish from close range headed off the line by RKC defender Dario van den Buijs after just four minutes played.
Feyenoord kept putting the relegation candidates under pressure, with Vaessen saving the Waalwijkers twice in quick succession. First, he had to push a shot from long distance wide by Yankuba Minteh before producing a great save to stop Lutsharel Geertruida from getting on the scoresheet a few minutes later.
Vaessen was sent off after 34 minutes played. The 28-year-old came out of his goal outside of the box and inadvertently blocked Calvin Stengs's attempt with his arm, leaving the referee with no choice but to send him off.
It was Luka Ivanusec's turn to show Feyenoord's bad fortune in front of goal. The Croat had his effort saved off the line by an RKC defender before a superb curled effort bounced off the crossbar.
The home side kept hammering the away side's goal. Substitute goalkeeper Jeroen Hauwen made a brilliant stop to prevent David Hancko from breaking the deadlock. Ayase Ueda was next to miss when he did not get the connection he wanted on a side-footed effort from inside the six-yard box.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 84th minute when Oranje international Mats Wieffer got away from his man to head home from a corner.
Slot will have been hoping for an easier afternoon with one eye on the second leg of their Europa League clash with AS Roma coming up on Thursday in Rome. The first match finished 1-1 in Rotterdam.
RKC were aided when both sides below them, Vitesse and Volendam, drew their six-pointer in Arnhem. Both goals were scored within the first six minutes of the match.
The away side took the lead after just two minutes. Incredibly, Bilal Ould-Chikh had a whole half to run into before making a turn and curling it into the far corner unopposed.
Vitesse equalized just under four minutes later. Michael Pinto hit a low shot from outside the area, which crept in under the body of Volendam goalkeeper Mio Backhaus.
The home side was the better in the first half, hitting the crossbar twice through Anis Hadj Moussa and Carlens Arcus.
The second half continued in a similar vein, with Paxten Aaronson missing from close range before Melle Meulensteen hit the crossbar, and Mexx Meerdink saw his overhead kick saved.
The draw could prove costly for both sides. RKC is five points ahead of the two who are in the direct relegation spots.
PSV picked up an easy 2-0 victory at home to Heracles on Friday night, who played most of the match with ten men after Bryan Limbombe was sent off. Luuk de Jong and Oliver Boscagli got the goals for the league leaders.
AZ scored a late winner through Dani de Wit to get Maarten Martens's first win as AZ manager away to Fortuna Sittard. The weekend was made even better for the Alkmaarders on Sunday as their rivals for the third league spot, FC Twente, lost at home to Utrecht, reducing the gap between the two sides to five points.