Mist descends on Alkmaar hopes

Published Nov. 20, 2011 7:15 p.m. ET

foxsports

AZ had the better of the goalless 45-minute contest but the sides must reconvene on a new date, with PSV Eindhoven's 3-1 win away to De Graafschap on Saturday having cut the Alkmaar club's lead at the top to three points. Excelsior remain a point behind second-bottom VVV-Venlo and are now eight points behind ADO Den Haag in safety, albeit having played a game less. Feyenoord ran out convincing 4-0 winners over Vitesse Arnhem to end a run of three games without a league victory. John Guidetti scored twice for the Rotterdam club, with Jordy Clasie and Sekou Cisse also finding the target in a one-sided contest at the Gelredome. The result lifts Feyenoord above Vitesse on goal difference, as the Arnhem club's unbeaten home start to the Eredivisie season was ended in emphatic fashion. FC Groningen remain seventh despite their 2-1 win over struggling VVV-Venlo. VVV forged ahead through Yanic Wildschut but the game's turning point was a foul by Andrea Mei on Dusan Tadic which resulted in Groningen being awarded a penalty and Mei being sent off. Leandro Bacuna tucked in the penalty and David Texeira grabbed the winner early in the second period to condemn VVV to an eighth defeat in 13 matches. They have now lost all six games away from home this season. FC Utrecht salvaged a point away to ADO Den Haag as Leon de Kogel's 80th-minute penalty ensured it finished honours even at the Kyocera Stadion. The hosts, who came into the match on the back of successive defeats, must have feared the worst when Daan Bovenburg put Jan Wouters' side ahead in the 10th minute. However, Den Haag battled back as first Charlton Vicento equalised on the half-hour mark and then Lex Immers put them in front 30 minutes later. A fifth win of the season looked on the cards for ADO until De Kogel's spot-kick for Utrecht, whose 6-4 win over Ajax last time out ended a run of three straight defeats.