Veteran striker Dirk Kuijt hits a second hat trick within a week, Ajax overcome Vitesse in Arnhem and PSV return to winning ways at Twente, writes Neil Adderley.

PEC Zwolle 1 – ­ 2 Utrecht: Haller double in Utrecht fightback

Sebastian Haller fired 10­ man Utrecht to an unlikely win in Zwolle. The hosts, who last week suffered a heavy home defeat to Vitesse, started brightly and were rewarded on 14 minutes when Wout Marinus beat Utrecht keeper Robbin Ruiter with a low drive.

But when a Yassin Ayoub pass found Haller just 10 minutes later, the French striker levelled matters with a near post strike.

Despite the setback, Ron Jans’ PEC continued to dominate and were seemingly heading for victory as Mark van der Maarel upended Lars Veldwijk in the penalty box on 85 minutes.

Van der Maarel was given his marching orders but PEC failed to capatalise when Stef Nijland ballooned over the bar from the penalty spot.

The home support was further stunned as referee Eric Braamhaar awarded the visitors an injury time penalty.

Haller stepped up to double his tally and hand Utrecht all three points.

Willem II 2 – ­ 2 Heerenveen: Slagveer delivers first point for de Haan

Foppe de Haan returned to the Heerenveen hot seat in the wake of Dwight Lodeweges’ resignation, and the septuagenarian will have been satisfied with a hard fought point.

After dominating early proceedings the visitors should have had their noses in front, but they were made to pay by Ajax loanee Richairo Zivkovic who beat Erwin Mulder with a sublime 27th minute finish.

Heerenveen were level on 50 minutes when Henk Veerman slammed home a Sam Larsson cross, however, another Ajax loanee, Lucas Anderson, restored the lead for Willem II on 73 minutes.

Heerenveen immediately searched for the equaliser, and the effort was rewarded five minutes later as Luciano Slagveer tapped home a Stefan Marzo cross.

The drama continued when Robert Braber was fouled in the penalty area, however, Willem II saw three points become one after Mulder brilliantly denied Stijn Wuytens with a point winning save.

De Graafschap 0 – ­ 1 Heracles: Bel Hassani piles the misery on rock bottom De Graafschap

Ilias Bel Hassani hit a late Heracles winner to condemn De Graafschap to an eighth defeat in the opening ten games.

The visitors did not have it all their own way, and it was Bram Castro, denying both Alexander Bannink and Erik Quekel early on, who was the busiest of the two keepers.

Heracles, who have had a dream start to the campaign, failed to reproduce their early season sparkling form, but

Bel Hassani proved to be the match winner after a smart 83rd minute finish.

Heracles remain in an excellent fourth place, while De Graafschap’s misery continues at the foot of the table.

Twente 1 – ­ 3 PSV: Champions return to form at struggling Twente

Three second half goals from Luuk de Jong, Jurgen Locadia and Gaston Pereiro saw PSV return to winning ways in Enschede.

The game failed to find a spark in a disappointing first period, however, PSV put a shock home draw with Excelsior behind them with a much improved second half performance.

Twente captain Hakim Ziyech restored parity just eight minutes after de Jong’s opener, but a 82nd minute Locadia header from a Andres Guardado cross, and a neat finish from Pereiro, was enough to move PSV to within two points of leaders Ajax.

Roda JC 1 – ­ 2 Excelsior: Rotterdammers fight back to claim victory in Kerkrade

A stunning 67th minute free kick from Jeff Stans completed an Excelsior comeback and hand the visitors victory.

Roda controlled the opening exchanges and were ahead after 14 minutes when Tomi Juric fired past Excelsior keeper Tom Muyters.

Muyters redeemed himself shortly after with an excellent stop to prevent Richmond Boakye doubling the host’s lead.

Excelsior, who had failed to threaten the Roda goal, finally pulled themselves back into the game when captain Sander Fischer headed home a late first half Jeff Stans corner.

And it was left to man­of­the­match Stans, who would go on to miss a penalty, to seal the Excelsior win with a stunning 67th minute free kick.

Cambuur 1 – ­ 1 ADO Den Haag: Winless run continues for Cambuur

Cambuur were left searching for a first win of the season as Henk de Jong’s side were held at home by ADO.

With both teams struggling to find any semblance of form, a tetchy, and ultimately disappointing first half in Friesland was of little surprise.

The game finally sparked into life on 47 minutes as Mike Havenaar converted a superb Edouard Duplan cross to give the visitors the lead.

But when Aaron Meijers made a mess of a simple looking punt forward, Furdjel Narsingh was left with a free run on goal before levelling matters for Cambuur on 53 minutes.

The hosts threw everything at ADO in search of a winner, but firstly Xander Houtkoop, and then Sjoerd Overgoor failed to beat Martin Hansen in the ADO goal.

Vitesse 1 – ­ 3 Ajax: Ajax remain top after second half fightback

Three goals in the last 17 minutes saw Ajax come from behind to beat Vitesse in Arnhem.

Not for the first time this season, and after yet another slow start, Ajax had Jasper Cillessen to thank as the keeper denied both Lewis Baker and Denys Oliinyk.

However, Cillessen was finally beaten early in the second half when a deflected Valeri Qazaishvili shot left the keeper powerless.

The league leaders found little response, and it was Vitesse that looked the more likely to double their lead, however, when Eloy Room failed to deal with a Joel Veltman effort, Viktor Fischer pounced to level the scores.

And Ajax turned the game on its head within a minute as the impressive Riechedly Bazoer held off Van der Werff before squeezing a shot under Room.

Frank de Boer’s men eventually sealed victory in the dying moments as substitute Sam Hendriks, making his Eredivisie debut, supplied a perfect cross for Lasse Schone to finish from close range.

NEC 1 – ­ 1 Groningen: Stalemate at Stadion de Goffert

Albert Rusnak converted a first away goal of the season for Groningen but it wasn’t enough for victory in Nijmegen.

The visitors came into the game on the back of a 1­1 Europa League away draw against Slovan Liberec, and their bright start was rewarded when Rusnak fired home a low 25 yard drive.

With both sides having struggled to find the net this term, Groningen will be disappointed in the manner in which they allowed their lead to slip.

Hans Hateboer was culpable as the young defender handled inside the penalty area within two minutes of the restart.

Christian Santos stepped forward to punish the visitor’s lack of concentration and level the scores from 12 yards.

Both Jarchinio Antonia and Danny Hoesen hit the crossbar for Groningen, while NEC and Santos were denied by keeper Sergio Padt.

A point keeps NEC in 7th, while Groningen remain a point and place behind in 8th place.

Feyenoord 3 – 1 AZ Alkmaar: Kuijt notches second hat trick in a week as Feyenoord march on

Veteran striker Dirk Kuijt continued his remarkable form with a second hat trick in seven days as Feyenoord kept up the pressure on fierce rivals Ajax.

The Rotterdammers deservedly hit the front on 13 minutes when Kuijt steered the ball past AZ keeper Coutinho from the edge of the penalty box.

However, the hosts were pegged back five minutes later when Joris van Overeem pounced on a Jan­Arie van der Heijden goal line clearance.

The visitor’s visibly grew in confidence and were unfortunate not to go into the break in front.

Both Vincent Janssen and Ben Rienstra were denied by the excellent Kenneth Vermeer in the Feyenoord goal.

The hosts were back in front on 60 minutes, albeit in fortunate circumstances, as Kuijt deflected a Bart Nieuwkoop effort past Coutinho.

Kuijt then wrapped up the points and his hat trick from the penalty spot, after Simon Gustafson was brought down by Coutinho.

Feyenoord remain tied on points with leaders Ajax, while double hat trick hero Dirk Kuijt climbs to the top of the Eredivisie scorer charts with 10 goals.