Leaders PSV suffer shock home defeat

ROTTERDAM: Leaders PSV Eindhoven suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat by ADO Den Haag in the Dutch league on Saturday after Wesley Verhoek struck in added time.

Verhoek scored from a tight angle to hand PSV their third league defeat of the season after 22 matches, and they could be knocked off the top of the table.

PSV, who struck a late winner themselves last week against Willem II Tilburg, have 47 points with Twente just one point behind ahead of their trip to Utrecht later yesterday.

Ajax Amsterdam, 2-0 winners over Graafschap Doetinchem on Friday, are in third place with 44 points ahead of Groningen, who hosted Tilburg yesterday, on 40 and ADO on 38.

Sixth-placed AZ Alkmaar, on 37 points, dropped off the pace after losing 2-1 at lowly Excelsior Rotterdam having led 1-0 at halftime through Kolbeinn Sigthorsson’s 10th minute goal.

Tim Vincken equalised with a penalty in the 65th and Jordy Clasie won the match 10 minutes from time when his freekick from 40m was misjudged by Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

Heerenveen and NEC Nijmegen played out a 0-0 draw. 

 

ADO surprises PSV 1-0 in Eredivisie

AMSTERDAM (AP): Wesley Verhoek scored in injury time for ADO The Hague to shock Dutch league leader PSV Eindhoven 1-0 on Saturday.

Verhoek converted Charlton Vicento's cross from a tight angle as ADO secured its first win at PSV's Philips Stadium since 1971.

"PSV was perhaps the better team but we took our chances," said Verhoek, who was voted man of the match. "I must compliment our defence, which played really well tonight."

PSV forced five corners in the first 15 minutes and captain Orlando Engelaar had its best chance off a rebound, but his 29th-minute effort went just wide. PSV has one more point than FC Twente.

Seeking its record 30th title, Ajax was third, three points behind. "We had chances but we failed to make the best out of those chances," said PSV coach Fred Rutten. "ADO scored from one of their few chances, which was from a counter and we knew they were good at that."

FC Twente, which travels to FC Utrecht on Sunday without injured American defender Oguchi Onyewu, can return to the top for the first time in 2011 with a win against the eighth-ranked side.

Mounir El Hamdaoui's 100th league goal helped Ajax to a 2-0 win over De Graafschap on Friday. Facing a grim battle against relegation, Excelsior Rotterdam secured a morale-boosting 2-1 win over 2009 champion AZ Alkmaar.

Tim Vincken's 65th-minute penalty and Jordy Clasie's free kick gave the side its fifth victory of the season. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson scored after 10 minutes for AZ.

Ruud Boymans' missed penalty in the 38th had little impact for VVV-Venlo, which beat NAC Breda 3-0 off a goal each from Ahmed Musa, Jorge Chula and Achmed Ahahaoui to boost its fight against relegation.

On Sunday, it's: Vitesse Arnhem vs. Feyenoord; FC Groningen vs. Willem II and Heracles Almelo vs. Roda JC.

  

Twente beat Feyenoord with injury- time goal

AMSTERDAM: Bryan Ruiz scored in injury time on Sunday to give FC Twente a 2-1 win over Feyenoord, ensuring the defending champions stay within a point of leaders PSV Eindhoven.

Ruiz, returning from a long-term injury layoff, headed in Theo Janssen’s pass after Wout Brama had equalised for Twente in the 76th minute.

Gill Swerts gave Feyenoord the lead in the 51st minute, but the team’s 11th loss of the season leaves them 15th in the 18-team league.

Inspired by Siem de Jong’s early goal, Ajax downed NAC Breda 3-0. Rob Pender scored a own goal, doubling Ajax’s lead, before Miralem Sulejmani added a third in injury time.

PSV have 47 points after beating last-place Willem II 2-1 on Saturday. Twente have 46 points, Ajax are next with 41.

FC Groningen beat 10-man SC Heerenveen 4-1 to stay fourth. Dusan Tadic hit two goals for Groningen, with team-mates Tim Matavz and Jonas Ivens also scoring. Filip Djuricic scored a consolation for Heerenveen, who had Arnold Kruiswijk sent off in the 85th minute. 

  

Ajax fall without Suarez

THE HAGUE: Ajax Amsterdam fell six points off the Dutch title pace on Sunday, a 3-0 loss at Utrecht coming on the day when banned striker Luis Suarez voiced his desire to play in England.

French player Edouard Duplan scored twice for mid-table Utrecht with Ismo Vorstermans sealing the three points.

Uruguayan World Cup star Suarez is currently banned for biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal in a league clash in November.

But being out of the action hasn’t kept the 23-year-old out of the headlines.

Suarez, whose infamous goal-line handball saved his country from World Cup elimination at the expense of Ghana, told the Sunday Times he was keen to move to England with Liverpool a likely destination.

  

Frank de Boer appointed Ajax coach

AMSTERDAM (AP) - Ajax says Frank de Boer has signed a new contract to coach the Amsterdam club until 2014.

De Boer was named caretaker coach last month after Martin Jol quit.

The club announced De Boer's appointment in a statement Monday night.

De Boer was a key player in the talented Ajax team that won the Champions League in 1995 and was an assistant to Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk at last year's World Cup in South Africa, where the Dutch lost 1-0 in the final to Spain.

De Boer's first match as caretaker was a stunning 2-0 victory at AC Milan in the Champions League that snapped a run of poor results for Ajax. He also led the team to two Dutch league victories before the winter break.