Excelsior to play in playoffs to stay in Eredivisie; RKC and Heracles stay up

Excelsior Rotterdam will have to win in the relegation playoffs to stay in the Eredivisie. Marinus Dijkhuizen's side could have avoided the playoffs if they had drawn or beaten their city rivals Feyenoord, but they lost 4-0. This ensured that RKC Waalwijk and Heracles Almelo survived the drop and will be in the Eredivisie next season.

Excelsior and RKC both had tough asks on the final day. Excelsior's opponents, Feyenoord, were saying goodbye to a fan favorite in manager Arne Slot, who confirmed his move to Liverpool earlier this week, while RKC faced the champions PSV Eindhoven.

The two teams were level on points before the game, meaning that if either team did better than the other, they would stay up. RKC had the advantage over Excelsior, as they had a better goal difference of 5. Heracles would have been in the relegation playoff spot if they had lost and the other two had won.

There was a surprising start to the battle to avoid the relegation playoff spot when RKC took the lead against the champions after 15 minutes. A counter was finished off by Richonell Margaret, who continued his fine form for RKC Waalwijk in the closing stages of the season, scoring his third goal in his last four games. Chris Lokesa had set the goal up with a good pass.

PSV came close to equalizing after 20 minutes. Johan Bakayoko hit the post with a shot from just inside the 16-yard box before Malik Tillman nearly surprised Ettiene Vaessen with a surprising effort into the near corner.

Excelsior held on well for the first half, with an acrobatic Igor Paixao effort, which hit the bar, being Feyenoord's only real moment of danger.

PSV equalized just before halftime. It was a familiar-looking goal as the duo of Joey Veerman and Luuk de Jong combined again. Veerman's cross was headed high into the net by De Jong.

Dijkhuizen's side had the worst possible start to the second half, conceding within the first three minutes. Calvin Stengs's cross was headed in from close range by Feyenoord captain Gernot Trauner, news that the RKC fans in Eindhoven celebrated.

The top sides started to dominate, with PSV hitting the crossbar through Guus Til before Feyenoord doubled their lead in the other match.

Yankuba Minteh started the attack in what is likely his last match for the club before he returns to Newcastle on loan by crossing it to Ayase Ueda, who got his volleyed attempt all wrong. Still, luckily for him, it fell to Ondrej Lingr, who volleyed it high into the corner.

Excelsior's relegation playoff spot was more or less confirmed in the 75th minute when the home side made it 3-0. Defender David Hancko scored his sixth goal of the season, smashing the ball into the far corner. Feyenoord finished the scoring when Lutsharel Geertruida scored a penalty.

The result in Rotterdam meant that the match in Eindhoven was immaterial. Luuk de Jong scored from the spot to ensure that he shared this season's top scorer trophy with Vangelis Pavlidis of AZ before RKC defender Julian Lelieveld volleyed the ball high into his own goal to make it 3-1 for the champions.

Heracles drew 0-0 at home against Fortuna Sittard and finished four points ahead of the other two sides.

Excelsior will face second-division side ADO Den Haag on Wednesday, and the return fixture will be on Saturday. The winners of the two matches will face FC Emmen or NAC Breda in the final.