Favourites secure first-day wins

Two-goal cushion
Champions Ajax ran out 3-2 winners at FC Twente but looked on course for a more comfortable victory as Belgian youngster Tom Van Mul opening the scoring on the half-hour and captain Rafael van der Vaart doubled the lead five minutes before the break.

Twente fightback
When Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic made it three a minute into the second period the win seemed settled but two minutes later Twente central defender Karim Touzani pulled one back. Midway through the second half, Blaise N'Kufo scored Twente's second after sloppy defending by Frenchman Julien Escudé to leave the champions hanging on at the end.

Emphatic victories
In contrast, PSV and Feyenoord both wrapped up resounding victories, a hat-trick from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink inspiring PSV to a 5-2 success at RBC Roosendaal on Saturday.

PSV recovery
Despite the final resounding margin, however, the Eindhoven side were twice forced to come from a goal down, strikes from Vennegoor of Hesselink and Gerald Sibon cancelling out two first-half goals from Tim Smolders. Vennegoor of Hesselink gave PSV the lead for the first time two minutes past the hour and completed his hat-trick 12 minutes later, DaMarcus Beasley wrapping up the win with his first goal for the club.

Kuijt delight
In Rotterdam, Dirk Kuijt opened the scoring for Feyenoord when he nodded in a Romeo Castelen cross after ten minutes and made it two eight minutes before half-time.

Decisive spell
De Graafschap's John van Beukering brought some tension back into the game with a deflected free-kick, but three goals, Kuijt's third and a Castelen double, in 13 minutes early in the second half sealed Feyenoord's win. Salomon Kalou made the final score 6-1 with 18 minutes left to play.

Point apiece
UEFA Cup contenders AZ Alkmaar and SC Heerenveen drew 1-1, Stein Huysegems's tenth-minute goal giving AZ an early lead only for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to salvage a point for the visitors with 12 minutes left. FC Utrecht twice led at NAC Breda but ended up losing 3-2, Anouar Diba scoring the decisive goal.

Perfect start
Second division champions FC Den Bosch opened with a 1-0 win against ADO Den Haag, Koen Van der Laak settling the match nine minutes before the end. FC Groningen and RKC Waalwijk started their seasons with a goalless draw.

Early lift
Said Boutahar and Romano Denneboom settled NEC Nijmegen's match against Willem II with goals in the opening 20 minutes. On Friday, last season's relegation strugglers SBV Vitesse recorded a 3-2 win at Roda JC, Nicky Hofs scoring twice.