PSV’s Ivan Perisic celebrates scoring the 1-1 against FC Twente
Reigning Eredivisie champions PSV have officially closed the gap to leaders Ajax to 6 points after a win in Enschede.
After Ajax’s 4-0 loss to FC Utrecht over the weekend, PSV got the opportunity to close the gap to the Amsterdam side to just 6 points with a win over FC Twente.
A false start in the Grolsch Veste did not help the title aspirations of Peter Bosz’s men – American right-back Richard Ledezma sloppily lost possession within the first minute, giving Naci Unuvar the chance to set Ricky van Wolfswinkel up for a lightning-quick opening goal.
It only took PSV ten minutes to respond via Ivan Perisic, who skillfully finished a chance set up by a classy first touch from Guus Til. PSV hit the woodwork twice and saw Twente stopper Lars Unnerstall spectacularly keep out an almost certain goal in the first half following Perisic’s equaliser, but could not find a second breakthrough just yet.
A sharp PSV side often seemed too much to handle for FC Twente, who fell to a 2-1 deficit eight minutes after the break as Perisic returned the favour to Guus Til, who scored his tenth Eredivisie goal of the current campaign. Luuk de Jong soon finished the job for PSV with a simple goal against his former employers.
Key match stats
Key match stats Flashscore
With four games remaining in the season, Ajax will carry a 6-point lead into this weekend, as in-form Sparta Rotterdam and former manager Maurice Steijn come to visit Amsterdam.
AZ drop points again
For the seventh time running, AZ have failed to win an Eredivisie match as NAC Breda held the cup finalists to a 1-1 draw in Alkmaar.
Slovakian wunderkind Leo Sauer opened the scoring in the second half from a corner, after which it took AZ until the 96th minute to come up with an adequate response as Mexx Meerdink won his side a point with a stunning bicycle kick.
A point brings NAC’s points total up to 32, eight more than relegation-threatened Willem II and just two away from the famed 34 necessary to stay in the Eredivisie.
AZ, meanwhile, struggle to recover from this Monday’s KNVB Beker final (a 4-2 loss to Go Ahead Eagles after penalties) and will look to quickly regain form as the playoffs for Conference League football draw closer – the Alkmaar side have won just one game in all competitions since March 1st (1-0 against Spurs on March 6th).
