Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV march on in Eredivisie

The traditional top three clubs of Dutch football, Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV pulled ahead of the rest with all three winning in the 15th match round of the Eredivisie.

Feyenoord beat fourth-placed Heracles Almelo 3-0 here on Sunday. Eljero Elia opened the scoring when his cross accidently went into the net via the post. Dirk Kuijt and Michiel Kramer added two more goals in a hectic final phase, reports Xinhua.

Referee Bas Nijhuis failed to see Feyenoord players Simon Gustafson and Kramer elbowing Mark-Jan Fledderus and Ramon Zomer respectively, but immediately gave Zomer a red card for attacking Kramer in the 82nd minute. With 11 against 10 Feyenoord were able to secure the victory with Kuyt and Kramer scoring.

League leaders AFC Ajax were superior against sc Heerenveen on Saturday (5-2). Viktor Fischer, Arek Milik and Amin Younes gave the home team a 3-0 lead after half an hour. In the second half, Mitchell te Vrede scored twice for Heerenveen, but Fischer and Davy Klaassen together did the same for Ajax. Milik failed to produce a second goal. His penalty went wide.

Also on Saturday reigning champions PSV Eindhoven left it late at Vitesse (1-0). Both teams had chances in a balanced match in Arnhem, but the visitors scored in the final minute. Jorrit Hendrix finished a counter attack.

Ajax maintained the lead with 38 points after 15 match rounds, followed by long-time rivals Feyenoord (35) and PSV (34). The gap with the rest became larger with Heracles in fourth place on 26 points, followed by FC Groningen (25), which drew 0-0 at Roda JC Kerkrade on Sunday, Vitesse (24) and NEC (24), which drew 2-2 at home against PEC Zwolle also on Sunday.

The battle for the title will therefore be between the traditional top three this season. Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV dominate Dutch football for ages with record holder Ajax from Amsterdam claiming a record 33 national titles, PSV Eindhoven becoming champions 22 times and Rotterdam based giants Feyenoord having 14 national championships.

For Feyenoord a new title would be most special, because the last championship of the club was in 1999. Ajax captured their last crown in 2014 and PSV were the best in the previous 2014/2015 season.