PSV and Ajax win; NEC continue impressive start to their Eredivisie season
PSV and Ajax won their games in the third round of the Eredivisie season this weekend. PSV defeated Groningen 4-2 in Eindhoven, while Ajax beat Heracles Almelo 2-0 in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. PSV are second in the table behind NEC, who continued their fantastic start to the season with a 3-0 win over NAC Breda.
PSV were the second game of the weekend. The reigning Eredivisie champions took the lead in the 32nd minute through Guus Til before Groningen equalized before halftime through Brynjólfur Willumsson.
Bosz’s side came out flying for the second half, scoring two goals in five minutes. Esmir Bajraktarevic got his first goal for the club in the 46th minute before another summer signing, Ruben Van Bommel, got his second goal at the club three minutes later.
Bajraktarevic got his second for the club in the 66th minute before Groningen got a late consolation goal through Mats Seuntjens to make the final score 4-2. PSV still has a 100 percent record in the league this season.
But despite this, PSV are not top of the table. Surprisingly, NEC have flown out of the blocks in the Eredivisie this season. The Nijmegen team has been flying under manager Dick Schreuder, who was appointed in April. A 3-0 win over NAC on Sunday put their goal difference at 12 goals scored with just one goal conceded in three games this season.
The confidence in the team could be seen in the first goal of the game. Shredder’s side was awarded a penalty, and their attacking midfielder, Tjarron Chery, stood behind the ball, but rather than wait and take a few steps back as penalties are usually taken, he hit the ball while standing still, surprising NAC keeper Daniel Bielica and scoring in the process.
NEC’s other two goals were scored by Basar Onal and Vito van Crooij. It was NEC’s sixth league win in a row, equalizing the club record from 1977. It was also just the third time that a club outside of the traditional big three has scored more than 10 goals after three league games of a season.
They will be tested again next week with a tough away game against Fortuna Sittard. PSV has a somewhat easier task with a game against newly promoted Telstar at home.
Ajax got back to winning ways on Sunday with a simple 2-0 win at home against Heracles Almelo. Steven Berghuis and Wout Weghorst got the goals for John Heitinga’s side against a Heracles team that is one of two teams to have not picked up a point yet this season, along with Excelsior.
FC Twente picked up their first win of the season in Friesland on Sunday, beating SC Heerenveen 1-2 in the Abe Lenstra stadium. Daan Rots broke the deadlock through an assist from his brother, Mats Rots. It was the first goal in the Eredivisie combined by two brothers since Stijn Wuytens and Dries Wuytens combined for Willem II in 2015.
Some teams, like Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar, were given the weekend off to focus on what could have been the second leg of their European tie this week. Feyenoord will not be playing in midweek as they have already been knocked out of UEFA Champions League contention by Fenerbahce. AZ will be focusing on sealing their qualification for the UEFA Conference League with a 2-0 lead against Levski Sofia. FC Utrecht, who beat Excelsior 4-1 thanks to a hat trick of assists from Sofian El Karouani, will also try to seal Europa League qualification with a 2-0 lead against Zrinjski Mostar.
