Dessers scores fourth injury-time goal of the season to keep points in Rotterdam: Feyenoord 1 – 0 Alkmaar
Both Feyenoord and AZ registered wins on Thursday in the Europa Conference League; Feyenoord beating Union Berlin 1-2 in the German capital whilst AZ completed a comfortable 2-0 home win against Cluj.
Yet again, Cyriel Dessers proved the difference late on in this encounter. In the first half, AZ played extremely cautious football, hoping to make use of the space behind the Feyenoord midfield. Their execution was too slow though, often leading to mistakes in their own half. Sinisterra came close to the opening goal but saw his shot sail past the post.
The biggest chance of the half fell to Feyenoord’s Bryan Linssen, whose one-on-one opportunity was saved by the foot of AZ goalkeeper Vindahl. In the second half, AZ became more dangerous and found themselves with more opportunities to get the opening goal. Bijlow in the Feyenoord goal was on hand to save an attempt by Reijnders, including the subsequent rebound.
Feyenoord introduced the mercurial Dessers in the 82nd minute. In stoppage time, Dessers was played in neatly by Nelson on the counter-attack, which he finished off calmly, securing the win for Feyenoord. Remarkably, all four of Dessers’ league goals this season have come after the 90th minute.
Ajax drop more points against Go Ahead Eagles: Ajax 0 – 0 Go Ahead Eagles
Ajax might be forgiven for suffering something of a hangover from their emphatic 1-3 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in midweek. They have found it difficult to find the net in the Eredivisie recently – Heracles holding them to another scoreless draw last week.
This weekend, newly promoted Go Ahead Eagles came to Amsterdam in a great form, on a three match winning run. They had, however, not taken a single point from Ajax in their previous 33 visits to Amsterdam.
As expected, Ajax dominated the ball and Go Ahead found it difficult to advance from their own half. They were, however, positioned so well that Ajax only registered their first shot on target in the 34th minute – Hahn saving a low shot from Tadic.
In the second half Ajax continued their dominance, but found it difficult create chances. Until late on, Ajax could only muster long range efforts to challenge the Go Ahead goal. In minute 77, Klaassen had could have opened the scoring but his header was denied by the post. Five minutes later, a Lisandro Martinez header finally beat Hahn, only for Go Ahead defender Kramer to clear it off the line.
An historical result for Go Ahead Eagles, with much to ponder for Ajax heading into the International break.
Around the League Table
PSV’s 1-4 win away at Fortuna Sittard puts them second only on goal difference, behind Ajax who remain top despite their goalless draw. Feyenoord sit closely behind in third, just two points behind the leaders and with the postponed Heracles fixture still to play.
Vitesse’s 2-1 win over Utrecht closed the gap between fourth and fifth to just one point.
At the other end of the table, an important 0-3 win for Sparta Rotterdam against Willem II keeps them within touching distance of the teams above, leapfrogging Fortuna Sittard in the process. Zwolle remain rooted to the foot of the league with just four points.
