Utrecht climbed back into second place in the Eredivisie with a nervy win at bottom club Almere City as Ajax came unstuck in Alkmaar.

Utrecht took a 2-0 lead towards the end of a turgid first half when Mike van der Hoorn headed in a corner, beforer Zidane Iqbal found the bottom corner with a low shot to become the first Iraqi national to score in the Dutch top flight.

A late strike by Laurent Delaurier Chaubet gave Almere hopes of ending their four-match losing streak, but as the home side pressed for an equaliser Noah Ohio broke away and ran the ball into an empty net.

Ajax coach Francesco Farioli blamed fatigue as his team dropped points for the second game in a row. “I can’t blame my players,” he said. “We’ve reached the limit; this is no surprise.”

AZ had hit the post twice through Ruben van Bommel before Troy Parrott broke the deadlock in the 64th minute, sweeping in a low cross by Peer Koopmeiners, before Mayckel Lahdo headed in the second from a corner.

Ajax fought their way back into the contest when Mika Godts squeezed in a shot at the near post, but were unable to find an equaliser.

PSV irresistible

The result leaves Ajax nine points behind leaders PSV, who thrashed Twente 6-1 to take their goal tally to 56 in 15 league matches.

Twente took an early lead when Sem Steijn lashed in a free-kick after 10 minutes for his 11th goal of the season. But PSV’s rotating attack proved irresistible, with Ismael Saibari scoring twice and Noa Lang bagging a goal and two assists.

Feyenoord’s Brazilian midfielder Igor Paixão proved the difference as the Rotterdammers overcame a feisty RKC in Waalwijk.

After Oskar Zawada had given the home side an early lead, Paixão picked out David Hancko to set up the equaliser, though RKC midfielder Yassin Oukili had the last word.

Anis Hadj-Moussa gave Feyenoord the leed with a dribble and shot early in the half before Oukili headed an equaliser in off the post, but Paixão rounded off a fine move with a well-placed shot to grab the points.

Eagles’ lightning start

Go Ahead Eagles scored four times in the opening 25 minutes of their match against NEC, including the fastest hat-trick in the Eredivisie since 2007 for Olivier Edvardsen. Dean James added a fifth with a rocket of a free-kick in the 58th minute.

All three goals in Willem II’s match against Heerenveen came after the 85th minute. Ion Nicolaescu rolled in a penalty for Heerenveen after Alireza Jahanbakhsh was brought down.

Three minutes later Jeremy Bokila’s header went in off the back of goalkeeper Micky van der Hart for the equaliser, but there was still time for Luuk Brouwers to snatch a winner for Heerenveen as he headed in Che Nunnely’s cross.

Sparta’s woes continued as they went down to a 2-0 home defeat to NAC, with Clint Leemans setting up both goals for Jan Van den Berg and Boy Kemper.

Heracles and Fortuna Sittard shared the points in an open game, with Alen Halilovic creating both goals for Fortuna before Ruben Roosken had the last word for Heracles in the 60th minute.

Groningen and PEC Zwolle were unable to find the net in the Euroborg, with Groningen’s Thomas Oosting missing the best chance when his shot flew just wide of the post in the 52nd minute.

Results

Friday

PSV Eindhoven 6-1 Twente Enschede

Saturday

Go Ahead Eagles 5-0 NEC Nijmegen

Heracles Almelo 2-2 Fortuna Sittard

RKC Waalwijk 2-3 Feyenoord\

Sparta Rotterdam 0-2 NAC Breda

Sunday

Almere City 1-3 Utrecht

AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Ajax

Groningen 0-0 PEC Zwolle

Willem II Tilburg 1-2 Heerenveen