AZ Alkmaar eased past a toothless Vitesse Arnhem to go top of the Eredivisie on goal difference, ahead of PSV and Twente Enschede.

Vangelis Pavlidis, who will line up for Greece against the Netherlands on Thursday, scored twice in the second half to secure the points for AZ and go joint top of the goalscoring charts, with five from the first three games.

Santiago Gimenez bagged two goals for champions Feyenoord in an equally comfortable 5-1 win at bottom side Utrecht, whose only consolation was that Ryan Flamingo scored their first goal of the season.

Gimenez put Feyenoord ahead after just eight minutes with a simple header as goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas was abandoned by his defenders. Flamingo equalised from close range 10 minutes later, but summer signing Calvin Stengs restored the lead when he was left unmarked in the penalty area.

Gimenez, Ayase Ueda and substitute Yankuba Minteh found the net in the second half as Utrecht put up little resistance.

Twente managed a 2-0 win at Volendam despite the absence of midfielder Carel Eiting, whose transfer from Volendam to Enschede was the subject of a bitter dispute between the clubs that had to be settled by the arbitration panel. Sem Steijn’s deflected shot and a neat finish by Ricky van Wolfswinkel ensured Twente maintained their perfect start to the season.

PSV took almost 45 minutes to break down RKC’s stubborn defence, going ahead through Joey Veerman’s shot late in the first half. Peter Bosz’s side found another gear in the second half and added further goals from Noa Lang, Luuk de Jong and Malik Tillman.

Ajax dropped points for the second week in a row with a 0-0 draw at Fortuna Sittard that could have been worse had Tijjani Noslin not blasted a 10th-minute penalty over the crossbar.

Almere agony

Almere City looked to have earned their first point in the Eredivisie at home to PEC Zwolle when Joey Jacobs headed home from a corner in the fifth minute of injury time.

But PEC, who had led since the fourth minute when Davy van den Berg fired in a volley, still had time to snatch the points courtesy of a glancing header by Apostolos Vellios.

An entertaining match in Deventer saw Go Ahead Eagles take the lead when Bas Kuipers tucked a low shot from the edge of the area inside Andries Noppert’s near post. Philippe Rommens scored a penalty late in the first half before Charlie Webster gave Heerenveen hope with a tap-in just before the break.

But the 19-year-old English midfielder, on loan from Chelsea, was sent off early in the second half for a reckless tackle and Sylla Sow made sure of the points, despite a late strike for Heerenveen by Osame Sahraoui.

A red card was also decisive in Heracles’s 3-1 win at home to Excelsior, whose midfielder Lazaros Lamprou was dismissed in the 56th minute with the score at 1-1.

Excelsior had had the better of the first half, but Heracles put the 10 men to the sword with a header by Justin Hoogma four minutes later and a neat finish by Mohamed Sankoh five minutes from time.

Sparta remain unbeaten after a late penalty by Joshua Kitolano earned them a draw against NEC, who took the lead early in the second half when Dirk Proper rounded off a solo run with a shot into the far corner.

Results

Friday

Sparta 1-1 NEC Nijmegen

Saturday

Almere City 1-2 PEC Zwolle

Go Ahead Eagles 3-2 Heerenveen

Heracles Almelo 3-1 Excelsior

RKC Waalwijk 0-4 PSV Eindhoven

Sunday

Fortuna Sittard 0-0 Ajax

Utrecht 1-5 Feyenoord

Vitesse Arnhem 0-2 AZ Alkmaar

Volendam 0-2 Twente Enschede