Feyenoord win opens door for PSV

The champions PSV Eindhoven regained the Eredivisie leadership on Monday as they won 2-0 at NEC Nijmegen and Feyenoord enjoyed a similar success at AZ Alkmaar.

Paauwe opener
AZ began the day at the summit but dropped a place as Feyenoord joined them on 38 points and PSV moved clear on 41. Midfielder Patrick Paauwe set Feyenoord on their way after two minutes when latching on to a defence-splitting pass from Dirk Kuijt. Paauwe was also involved in the second five minutes later, teeing up Jonathan de Guzman who finished in style. The closest AZ side came to scoring was when striker Shota Arveladze hit the crossbar midway through the second half.

'Crucial win'
"We were better then Feyenoord today but have nothing to show for it as we gave it away in the first ten minutes," said AZ coach Louis van Gaal. "After the break we took more risks and gave them a hard time but we failed to convert the chances we created." Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman added: "We started with two early goals but after that it became an open match. It was a crucial win as we're now level on points with AZ again and stay in touch with the top."

Ajax chance
Ivorian Arouna Koné opened the scoring for PSV early on and United States forward DaMarcus Beasley nodded in a cross from Jason Culina at the far post to seal the win in the final minute. Elsewhere, FC Utrecht and Sparta Rotterdam drew 1-1. Fourth-placed AFC Ajax are 14 points behind the leaders, but have an opportunity to close the gap when they entertain FC Groningen on Tuesday.