FC Utrecht lost ground on the pacesetters in the Dutch league when
it was held to a 2-2 draw by Vitesse Arnhem in the Dutch league
Sunday as the top four teams all won earlier in the weekend.
Fifth-placed Utrecht next meets league leader FC Twente in
their final match before the winter break.
Twente scored three times in the second half Saturday to beat
NAC Breda 3-1 and seal its 12th straight win to lead the league
with 47 points, two ahead of PSV Eindhoven.
Twente, which last won the league title in 1926, looked
dominant at home but Breda took the lead shortly before the end of
the first half. Midfielder Edwin de Graaf broke free on the right
side and slotted the goal from near the goal line.
Miroslav Stoch equalized on a penalty kick at 58 minutes,
then put Twente ahead for good, curling a shot behind Breda 'keeper
Jelle ten Rouwelaar ten minutes later.
Bryan Ruiz added insurance in the 82nd minute, the 10th
consecutive match in which he has scored.
PSV beat defending champion AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in Eindhoven
Saturday, with Ola Toivonen heading in the only goal four minutes
before the end of the game.
AZ was led by coach Dick Advocaat in his first match after
the club fired Ronald Koeman last week. PSV looked only slightly
better until AZ forward Mounir el Hamdaoui was sent off at 71
minutes with his second yellow.
Third place Ajax beat NEC Nijmegen 3-0 on Friday, with
league-leading scorer Luis Suarez notching his 18th goal. Suarez
denied rumors of an imminent transfer to Chelsea after the match.
Also Saturday it was VVV-Venlo 3, RKC Waalwijk 0; SC
Heerenveen 0 and Feyenoord 2. And on Sunday it was Willem II 1,
Roda JC 3; ADO The Hague 1, Heracles Almelo 4; and Sparta Rotterdam
2, FC Groningen 4.
