A resounding 4-0 win at AZ Alkmaar enabled PSV to maintain their 100% record and a 10-point lead in the Eredivisie going into the winter break.

Luuk de Jong stroked in an eighth-minute penalty after goalkeeper Hobbie Verhulst needlessly felled Malik Tillman on the edge of the area, before Ismael Saibari and Sergiño Dest rounded off sweeping passing moves to put Peter Bosz’s side 3-0 up after 16 minutes.

PSV had chances to go further ahead, but had to wait until the second half to add a fourth when De Jong headed in a cross by Saibari.

Bosz said he rated the first half as the best performance by his team this season. “It’s just a shame we didn’t score more than three, because we could have done. We started with so much intensity and scored straight away.”

Closest rivals Feyenoord won by the same scoreline at Heracles, with Calvin Stengs scoring twice in the first 18 minutes. Lutsharel Geertruida tapped in from a corner just after half-time before Quinten Timber found space outside the penalty area to fire in a fourth on the hour mark.

Twente Enschede moved up to third place despite giving away two penalties in three minutes to Sparta, who were 2-1 up until Naci Ünüvar’s shot beat Nick Olij at his near post in injury time.

Ajax missed the chance to close the gap on the top four as a late equaliser by Lennart Thy earned PEC Zwolle a point in Amsterdam, after Brian Brobbey had put Ajax 2-0 up with his second goal early in the second half.

Vitesse routed

Vitesse Arnhem head into the four-week winter break at the bottom of the pile after losing 5-0 to relegation rivals Almere City, who scored three in the last 10 minutes. “Today we showed that we deserve to be where we are,” said interim coach Edward Sturing.

Volendam moved off the foot of the table with their first win in eight matches, as counter-attacking goals by Bilal Ould-Chikh and Lequincio Zeefuik earned them a 2-1 victory at Heerenveen.

Excelsior, the club that stands in the way of PSV and a record-equalling 17th league victory on January 13, earned themselves a point at home against Go Ahead Eagles thanks to a late strike by substitute Oscar Uddenäs.

Utrecht extended their unbeaten run in the league and cup to 10 matches with a 1-1 draw at home to RKC, while NEC beat Fortuna Sittard for their third win in a row to move up to eighth place, overtaking the Limburg club in the process.

Results

Friday

NEC Nijmegen 4-1 Fortuna Sittard

Saturday

Excelsior 1-1 Go Ahead Eagles

Heerenveen 1-2 Volendam

Utrecht 1-1 RKC Waalwijk

Sunday

Ajax 2-2 PEC Zwolle

Almere City 5-0 Vitesse Arnhem

AZ Alkmaar 0-4 PSV Eindhoven

Heracles Almelo 0-4 Feyenoord

Sparta Rotterdam 2-2 Twente Enschede