FC Twente moved seven points clear at the Eredivisie summit this
evening courtesy of a richly-deserved 2-0 victory at VVV Venlo.
Blaise Nkufo netted the opener seven minutes before the
interval and Bryan Ruiz made sure of the triumph for Steve
McClaren's league leaders with a fine individual goal two minutes
from time.
Second-placed Ajax can trim the gap back to four points on
Sunday by winning at struggling ADO Den Haag.
The visitors were always in control at De Koel and created
the first chance with 16 minutes gone. Theo Janssen's left-wing
cross found Kenneth Perez, but he could only direct his
right-footed shot over the bar.
Ten minutes later and Janssen was again the provider, this
time swinging in a corner from which Peter Wisgerhof headed just
beyond the right-hand post.
Alexander Nkume almost put his attempted clearance through
his own net from Perez's cross just after the half-hour as Twente
continued to push for the breakthrough.
The first goal eventually arrived after 38 minutes and it was
fully deserved. Janssen's inswinging left-footed corner from the
right was met at the far post by Nkufo, who lashed into the
bottom-left corner with his right foot.
The home fans had to wait until just before the hour for
their first chance of note. Kevin van Dessel's corner found the
head of Ken Leemans, but his effort was parried to safety by
visiting goalkeeper Sander Boschker.
Twente killed the game off with the second goal two minutes
from time, Ruiz bursting down the right wing before cutting in and
slotting into the bottom-left corner.
