Alkmaar miss their cue

By Berend Scholten

AZ Alkmaar missed the chance to regain second place in the Eredivisie as two Stéphane Tanghe strikes helped FC Utrecht to a 3-2 victory, while PSV Eindhoven defeated Feyenoord on penalties to reach the Dutch Cup final.

Utrecht turnaround
In Utrecht, Barry van Galen gave UEFA Cup semi-finalists Alkmaar a 35th-minute lead, but a long-distance shot from Jean-Paul de Jong restored parity two minutes later. Tanghe then put Utrecht ahead ten minutes into the second period.

Tanghe on target
Again the advantage proved short-lived, Kenneth Perez responding for Alkmaar a minute past the hour mark, but Tanghe struck what proved to be the decisive goal in the 64th minute, heading in Dave van den Dergh's pass. Alkmaar therefore remain a point behind second-placed AFC Ajax after collecting only one from their last four league matches, while the defeat means that PSV Eindhoven can become champions this weekend if they beat SBV Vitesse.

Kalou strike
UEFA Champions League semi-finalists PSV, meanwhile, remain on course for a treble with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out success in the Dutch Cup over Feyenoord in Rotterdam. With coach Guus Hiddink in Italy to watch semi-final opponents AC Milan, and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Phillip Cocu and André Ooijer all recovering from injury, Salomon Kalou headed the home team into an early lead in the fourth minute from Bart Goor's free-kick.

PSV pressure
The away side pressed for an equaliser and had two goals disallowed before DaMarcus Beasley finally broke through in the final minute of normal time. There were no further goals in extra time so the match went to penalties. Although PSV's Jefferson Farfan saw his penalty saved by Gabor Babos, Feyenoord's Bart Goor hit the crossbar and Edwin de Graaf shot over, leaving Theo Lucius to convert the winning kick and set up a final against either Willem II or Ajax who play on Thursday.