PSV Eindhoven go into the winter break with a six-point cushion in the Eredivisie after seeing off the challenge of Feyenoord in convincing fashion.

A close-range strike by Noa Lang and a header from Luuk de Jong, both set up by Croatian veteran Ivan Perisic’s plundering runs down the right-hand channel, gave the league leaders a comfortable lead within the first half-hour.

Feyenoord posed more of a threat in the second half, but PSV were able to add a third when Malik Tillman found space on the edge of the penalty to curl in a shot with his right foot.

Second-placed Ajax struggled to break down Sparta in a turgid game in Het Kasteel that brought them head to head with their former manager Maurice Steijn.

Kenneth Taylor scored from the spot in the 73^rd minute after Jorrel Hato was brought down 73 minutes, before Bertrand Traoré drilled in a low curler for the second.

Utrecht slump

Utrecht looked on course to finish the year level on points with Ajax when Nick Viergever’s early header gave them a 1-0 lead at half-time against Fortuna Sittard.

But the Limburgers, who were dumped out of the cup by amateur side Quick Boys in midweek, staged an extraordinary comeback in the second half. Luka Tunjic equalized with Fortuna Sittard’s first effort on target when a deflected shot fell kindly into his path.

Utrecht regained a lead within a minute through Yoann Cathline, but the visitors hit back with three goals in 10 minutes and added a fifth in injury time. Viergever received a late red card for a late tackle and will miss Utrecht’s crucial match against Feyenoord in January.

Willem II, the other midweek cup casualties, put four goals past a ragged NEC side to move up to ninth place. Ivan Marquez headed into his own net for the first goal before Koki Ogawa tapped in an equalizer. But Jeremy Bokila restored the lead with a header before Ringo Meerveld and Boris Lambert made the scoreline comfortable in the second half.

Heracles-Groningen suspended

Heracles’s match against Groningen was suspended with 11 minutes left to play when one of the visiting fans fell through a plexiglass screen separating the supporters.

The injured fan was able to walk to a waiting ambulance, while the KNVB will have to decide how to finish the match between the teams in 15^th and 16^th place in the league, with the score standing at 1-1.

Heerenveen’s up-and-down season continued as they followed up their win against PSV by slumping to a 3-0 defeat at Almere City, who won for just the second time this season.

Adi Nalic and Joey Jacobs scored twice in four minutes at the start of the second half before Alex Balboa added a late third to close the gap on 16^th-placed Sparta to three points.

AZ move up

A header by Troy Parrott was enough for AZ to see off Twente and move above their opponents into fifth place, three points behind Feyenoord.

Go Ahead Eagles went behind to an early goal at home to NAC when Sana Fernandes chested down the ball and smashed in a volley from outside the penalty area.

But NAC’s Swedish striker Victor Edvardsen and his Norwegian counterpart Oliver Edvardsen turned the game round in three second-half minutes to claim the points.

The Friday evening match between RKC Waalwijk and PEC Zwolle ended in controversy when PEC wrongly had a winning goal ruled out by the VAR panel for offside. Nick Fichtinger headed in from a corner, which the KNVB later acknowledged cannot be offside under the rules.

To add insult to injury, Oskar Zawada had given RKC the lead with a header from a corner after 10 minutes, before PEC’s Dylan Vente equalized from the penalty spot.

Results

Friday

RKC Waalwijk 1-1 PEC Zwolle

Saturday

Almere City 3-0 Heerenveen

AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Twente Enschede

Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 NAC Breda

Heracles Almelo 1a1 Groningen

Sunday

PSV Eindhoven 3-0 Feyenoor

Sparta Rotterda 0-2 Ajax

Utrecht 2-5 Fortuna Sittard

Willem II 4-1 NEC Nijmegen