Netherlands round-up: Kezman hat-trick inspires PSV

A hat-trick from Mateja Kezman helped PSV Eindhoven to a 6-0 win at home to FC Zwolle that maintained their four-point lead at the top of the Eredivisie.

Early goals
The game was all over inside the first 12 minutes, as PSV raced into a four-goal lead. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink opened the scoring for the home side in the first minute before Kezman added goals in the third and ninth minutes and Mark van Bommel’s fourth put his team in complete command.

First-half hat-trick
Kezman completed his hat-trick in the 25th minute, before Arjen Robben’s goal 14 minutes after half-time completed a resounding victory for the home side, to leave Zwolle deep in relegation trouble.

Tight win
Second-placed AFC Ajax had a tricky warm-up for Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League match with Arsenal FC, securing a narrow 2-1 home win against FC Groningen that kept the Amsterdam side still in touch with the leaders.

Frantic finish
Goals in either half from Andy van der Meyde and Zlatan Ibrahimovic seemed to have sealed Ajax’s win, but Melchior Schoenmakers pulled a goal back for the away team with 16 minutes left to play to ensure a nervous finale to the game.

Van Hooijdonk double
Feyenoord remained in third place with a 4-1 win at AZ Alkmaar, but stayed eleven points behind PSV. First-half goals from Robin van Persie, Bonaventure Kalou and two for Pierre van Hooijdonk secured a comfortable win for the Rotterdam club

Resounding win
Willem II moved up to fourth in the table with a resounding 5-0 home win against Roda JC, who slipped to eighth place. First-half goals from Jattoo Ceessay and James Quinn gave Willem the lead, before a second-half strike from Danny Landzaat and two from Dimitry Shoukov completed the scoring.

Emphatic comeback
De Graafschap slipped to the bottom of the table with a 5-1 defeat at the hands of SC Heerenveen, despite taking the lead through Arvid Smit. Romano Denneboom equalised for the home side five minutes before half-time, and second-half strikes from John de Jong, Gerald Sibon, Stefan Selakovic and a second from Denneboom completed Heerenveen’s recovery.

Narrow wins
Elsewhere, Patrick van Diemen scored the only goal of the game as RKC Waalwijk won 1-0 against SBV Vitesse, while NEC Nijmegen won 2-1 at FC Twente and NAC Breda won by the same score at home to ten-man SC Excelsior. On Friday, a Dirk Kuijt goal gave FC Utrecht a 1-0 win at RBC Roosendaal.