With PSV crowned champions, the Eredivisie spotlight turns to the fight for Europe and the crucial battle for top flight status.

It was a huge weekend in the battle for Eredivisie survival as Heracles Almelo triumphed to leave NAC Breda, Go Ahead Eagles and Excelsior staring the spectre of relegation in the face writes Neil Adderley

ADO Den Haag 1 – 0 Vitesse Arnhem: Late Kramer winner earns ADO crucial win

An 85th Michiel Kramer goal secured Eredivisie safety for ADO and condemned Vitesse to a first defeat in twelve games.

ADO looked the more dangerous throughout and were only denied a more comfortable victory by Vitesse’s Eloy Room.

The visiting keeper pulled off a number of excellent saves to leave both Kramer and Kevin Jansen frustrated.

The hosts however were not to be denied, and it was ADO top scorer Kramer who eventually beat Room late on to seal the crucial win.

Heerenveen 1 – 1 Willem II: Draw may not be enough for Willem II

The visitors hopes of qualifying for the Europa League play-offs were dealt a blow as they were held to a draw at Heerenveen.

Willem II dominated for large periods at the Abe Lenstra Stadion and were left  ruing a host of missed chances.

In form Heerenveen keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt twice denied Samuel Armenteros before watching a Bruno Andrade free header sail over his crossbar.

Andrade, who also saw a fine effort rattle the crossbar, eventually gave Willem II a deserved lead on 78 minutes, however, the Tilburgers lead lasted less than two minutes.

A lack of concentration allowed Heerenveen’s Mark Uth space in the penalty box and the German striker made no mistake from a tight angle.

A share of the spoils leaves Heerenveen in sixth in the table, and sees Willem II’s Europa League aspirations fading away.

Go Ahead Eagles 0 – 2 FC Utrecht: Haller double leaves Eagles firmly grounded

A goal in each half from Utrecht’s French striker Sebastian Haller all but condemned Go Ahead to the relegation play-offs.

The young Frenchman struck on 19 minutes, after some fine interplay with Yassin Ayoub, and the hosts, who have been haunted by a lack of goals throughout the season, could muster no reply.

Haller doubled the away sides lead on the hour, cleverly lobbing keeper Mickey van der Hart before tapping home to leave Go Ahead needing a minor miracle to avoid the dreaded relegation play-offs.

NAC Breda 1 – 3 Heracles Almelo: Relegation ‘six pointer’ leaves Heracles all but safe

A goal and two assists from man-of-the-match Bryan Linssen saw Heracles all but safe and left NAC on the precipice of the relegation play-offs.

Linssen shocked the hosts after 15 minutes when his hopeful shot somehow beat NAC keeper Jelle Ten Rouwelaar.

And ten minutes later a Linssen free-kick was headed home by Ramon Zomer to silence the Rat Verlegh Stadion.

A 38th minute Mats Seutjens header gave the suffering home fans a glimmer of hope, but with the hosts pushing for a second half equaliser, substitute Jaroslav Navratil sealed the points for Heracles after more excellent work from the outstanding Bryan Linssen.

Excelsior 2 – 3 PSV Eindhoven: Excelsior let crucial lead slip against ten-man champions

Excelsior entered the last 15 minutes with a one-man advantage and a 2-1 lead, however, the Rotterdammers’ failed to handle Dutch hot property Memphis Depay.

The in-demand forward drew the sides level with a trademark free kick before breaking Excelsior hearts by setting up the winner for substitute Jurgen Locadia in injury time.

The win moves champions PSV onto 82 points and sees Excelsior well and truly dragged into a late relegation battle.

FC Dordrecht 0 – 0 Cambuur Leeuwarden: Relegated Dordrecht curb Cambuur Europa dreams

A win for the visitors at relegated Dordrecht would have seen Henk de Jong’s men level on points with eight placed Groningen.

But despite being condemned to the drop, Dordrecht failed to roll over and the spoils were shared in a typical end-of-season encounter at the Krommedijk.

Groningen 1 – 1 Feyenoord: Cup finalists hold Feyenoord to feisty draw

Feyenoord arrived at the Euroborg hoping to capatalise on Vitesse’s defeat to ADO Den Haag but came up against more than a worthy opponent in cup finalists Groningen.

And it was the hosts who took the game by the scruff of the neck as both Tjaronn Chery and Simon Tibbling were denied by Feyenoord keeper Kenneth Vermeer.

Those missed chances came back to bite Groningen when a deflected Jordy Clasie shot beat Sergio Padt to give the visitors the lead against the run of play.

The home side continued to press and they received their reward on the stroke of halftime when Chery struck a fabulous 30-yard free kick that left Vermeer rooted to the spot.

The pattern of the second half mirrored the first as Groningen, who will face PEC Zwolle in next Sundays KNVB cup final in De Kuip, retained the upper hand.

Young striker Juninho Bacuna lobbed agonisingly wide of Vermeer’s goal before defender Hans Hateboer’s effort was rightly ruled out by the officials.

Feyenoord finished the game with ten-men after a Khalid Boulahrouz slap on Rasmus Lindgren, but the away side held on for a point that keeps them three points clear in third place.

PEC Zwolle 1 – 1 Ajax: Late Sigthorsson leveller seals Champions League qualifier for Ajax

A last minute Kolbeinn Sigthorsson goal gave Ajax a somewhat undeserved draw in Zwolle and in turn secured a second placed Eredivisie finish for the outgoing champions.

Although cup holders and finalists PEC were the better side throughout, they were fortunate to go into the break on level terms.

Only a fine stop from keeper Warner Hahn denied Ajax winger Anwar El Ghazi from giving Ajax the advantage.

With the second half in its infancy, a superb Jesper Drost half volley broke the deadlock and while Ajax pushed for an equaliser, it seemed PEC would hold on for yet another victory over the Amsterdammers.

However, Icelander Sigthorsson fired home in the dying seconds to bring Ajax level and a share of the points.

FC Twente 0 – 2 AZ Alkmaar: AZ eye third place after comfortable victory

A spectacular Wesley Hoedt overhead kick and an Aron Johannsson strike gave AZ Alkmaar all the points while turning up the pressure on Feyenoord in the chase for third place.

AZ, who were dominant throughout, now find themselves leapfrogging Vitesse and just three points behind third placed Feyenoord with two games to play.

In total contrast to what has been a successful season for AZ under new manager John van den Brom, FC Twente’s disastrous season, dogged by financial irregularities off the pitch and poor performances on it, simply can’t come to an end quickly enough.