Feyenoord stretched their lead in the Eredivisie to three points as a late goal by Marcus Pedersen earned them a precious win in the top of the table clash against AZ Alkmaar.

The leaders went behind in the 16th minute when Javairô Dilrosun headed into his own net from a corner, but Iranian striker Alireza Jahanbakhsh levelled the scores with a header in first half injury time.

The second half was dominated by Feyenoord, but they were unable to force a breakthrough until Pedersen’s shot from the edge of the area glanced off Jesper Pedersen’s ankle and looped into the net.

Ajax moved up to second place with a 4-0 win over Sparta that featured two goals from Dusan Tadic, restored to the centre-forward position, as well as a neat finish by Kenneth Taylor and a free-kick by Mohammed Kudus.

Tadic’s second goal from the penalty spot was his 100th in Ajax colours, while Kudus revealed a T-shirt in memory of former Vitesse Arnhem and Chelsea player Christian Atsu, who died in last week’s earthquake in Turkey at the age of 31.

PSV draw, Twente lose

PSV came from a goal down at Utrecht to lead 2-1 when Luuk de Jong tapped in a rebound from Johan Bakayoko’s shot, but only after the VAR panel overruled an offside flag.

Utrecht, who had taken the lead with a long-range strike by Othmane Boussaid, were behind for just two minutes until top scorer Anastasios Douvikas chested down for Sander van de Streek to fire in an equaliser.

FC Twente lost ground on the leaders as early goals by Philippe Rommens and Isac Lidberg were enough to earn Go Ahead Eagles a home win in Deventer.

Groningen moved off the bottom with a draw at home to northern rivals Emmen, but were left rueing missed chances after Ricardo Pepi’s 12th-minute strike was cancelled out minutes later by defender Miguel Araujo.

Groningen also played the last 20 minutes with an extra man following the sending-off of Mike te Wierik, but were unable to make their advantage count.

Cambuur are now propping up the table after losing the Friesland derby at home to Heerenveen, despite taking a first-minute lead through Bjørn Johnsen’s snap volley. Heerenveen equalised 20 minutes later when a loose ball fell at the feet of debutant Osame Sahraoui, before Milan van Ewijk tapped in a winner in a goalmouth scramble midway through the second half.

Voldendam moved clear of the drop zone as Daryl van Mieghem scored both goals in a 2-0 home win against Vitesse, while RKC won a mid-table carnival weekend clash with Fortuna Sittard 3-1 thanks to two late goals from Julen Lobete and Florian Jozefzoon.

Results

Friday

RKC Waalwijk 3-1 Fortuna Sittard

Saturday

Feyenoord 2-1 AZ Alkmaar

Groningen 1-1 Emmen

Volendam 2-0 Vitesse Arnhem

Sunday

Ajax 4-0 Sparta Rotterdam

Cambuur Leeuwarden 1-2 Heerenveen

Excelsior L-L NEC Nijmegen

Go Ahead Eagles 2-0 Twente Enschede

Utrecht 2-2 PSV Eindhoven