AZ Alkmaar are the new leaders of the Eredivisie after they won 4-1 win at Groningen to take full advantage of slip-ups by the top two.

Jesper Karlsson made an immediate impact on his return to AZ’s first team after a four-month absence. The Swedish winger in a shot after just three minutes which Dani de Wit tucked away on the rebound and scoring the second in the 19th minute.

The surprise of the weekend was former leaders PSV’s 3-0 defeat by Cambuur Leeuwarden, who had never managed a league win over the Eindhoven club before.

Silvester van der Water’s rasping shot sent Cambuur on their way in the 54th minute before late strikes by Mitchel Paulisen and Sai van Wermeskerken sealed a historic win.

‘We analysed PSV well and looked at where we could hurt them,’ said assistant coach Pascal Bosschaart. ‘That’s what we did and we were fantastic in every department.’

Ajax, who kicked off after PSV’s match finished, missed the chance to go back to the top as they could only draw at home to Go Ahead Eagles. Davy Klaassen put the champions ahead just before half-time, but a breakaway goal by Willum Thór Willumsson secured a point for the visitors.

Feyenoord missed the chance to draw level on points with Ajax as they had to settle for a draw at NEC, who shared the points for the sixth match in a row. Central defender Iván Márquez equalised in the first half after Quinten Timber had given Feyenoord the lead.

Twente close gap

Twente Enschede closed to within a point of the Rotterdammers as they notched up a convincing 3-0 win over troubled Vitesse, to give new coach Philip Cocu a debut to forget. Gijs Smal’s 25-metre shot from a corner in the closing minutes was the pick of the goals.

Sparta managed to draw at RKC Waalwijk despite being reduced to 10 men when Shurandy Sambo was dismissed for a heavy challenge on Roy Kuijpers. But 13 minutes later Arno Verschueren headed in his second of the game to earn the point.

A header by Sander van der Streek proved the difference for Utrecht at Excelsior, while a goalless draw at home to Heerenveen lifted Emmen off the bottom of the table.

Last place is now occupied by newcomers Volendam, who came away from Sittard empty-handed thanks to a spectacular long-range strike by Portuguese debutant Úmaro Embaló and a flying volley by Oguzhan Özyakup.

Results

Saturday

Ajax 1-1 Go Ahead Eagles

Cambuur Leeuwarden 3-0 PSV Eindhoven

Groningen 1-4 AZ Alkmaar

Twente Enschede 3-0 Vitesse Arnhem

Sunday

Emmen 0-0 Heerenveen

Excelsior 0-1 Utrecht

Fortuna Sittard 2-0 Volendam

NEC Nijmegen 1-1 Feyenoord

RKC Waalwijk 2-2 Sparta Rotterdam