Nana Asare and Dries Mertens sent 10-man NAC Breda to a 2-0 defeat
as FC Utrecht saw their match delayed due to abusive chants at the
referee.
The outpouring of anger from the NAC faithful centred on the
dismissal of Anthony Lurling by official Bjorn Kuipers, three
minutes after Asare's 25th-minute opener, for an innocuous-looking
foul on Jacob Lensky. Mertens clinched victory four minutes from
time.
Heerenveen's 2-1 win at basement club RKC Waalwijk was held
up for the same reason as the home fans vented their ire at referee
Bas Nijhuis' harsh handball decision which allowed Gerald Sibon to
score the winner from the penalty spot six minutes from time.
Veteran Sibon had opened the scoring in the 13th minute but
Benjamin de Ceulaer's tap-in levelled matters before the late
controversy.
VVV Venlo twice came from behind to earn an enthralling 3-3
draw with AZ Alkmaar. Adil Auassar cancelled out Pontus Wernbloom's
first-half opener but Simon Poulsen and Mounir El Hamdaoui put the
visitors 3-1 up.
VVV were not to be denied, though, and Ruben Schaken cut the
deficit before Michael Uchebo levelled matters once more 15 minutes
from time.
Goran Lovre and Tim Matavz earned FC Groningen a 2-0 win at
NEC Nijmegen.
Lovre struck after eight minutes and Matavz double the
advantage three minutes after half-time, but Groningen were forced
to overcome the dismissal of Leandro Bacuna 10 minutes later to
preserve their advantage.
