Feyenoord reignited the Eredivisie title race on Sunday as they ended PSV’s 13-game winning run with a 2-1 victory in De Kuip.

A thunderbolt from Nicolai Jørgensen after 28 minutes and a dipping shot by Sam Larsson five minutes later gave the Rotterdammers a deserved 2-0 lead at half-time.

Jørgensen’s departure with a hamstring injury just before the break reduced their firepower, but they held PSV at bay even after Steven Bergwijn reduced the arrears with a 72nd-minute goal.

PSV manager Mark van Bommel blamed the defeat on his players not keeping to the game plan in the early stages. ‘We didn’t carry out things we’d agreed beforehand,’ he said. ‘And just as we were coming back into the game, we went 2-0 down. After that we were never in any danger.’

Ajax win

PSV’s first dropped league points meant Ajax closed the gap at the top to two points thanks to their convincing 5-1 win over ADO Den Haag earlier in the day. Feyenoord could move to within five points of Ajax if they win their game in hand against VVV in Thursday.

Beneath the top three, Heracles ended a run of poor results with a 4-1 win over VVV, with Lerin Duarte scoring twice.

Dick Advocaat’s FC Utrecht came back from 3-0 down at half-time to draw 3-3 at Excelsior on Friday. The veteran manager was called into the referee’s dressing-room at half-time after venting his fury that his team had been denied a penalty, but after the break Utrecht were involved in a penalty controversy of their own as Thomas Gustafson equalised from the spot.

Referee Richard Martens awarded the kick on the advice of the VAR team, only to admit after the game that Utrecht’s Oussama Tannane had not been fouled: ‘Unfortunately I have to conclude that it wasn’t a penalty because the Excelsior player played the ball before contact was made.’

Groningen rise

Heerenveen recorded their first home win of the season by beating Fortuna Sittard 3-1, while Vitesse were denied a win at home to Emmen when Bryan Linssen slipped while taking a penalty in the 87th minute.

At the bottom of the table, NAC surrendered a 2-1 lead to go down 5-2 in Groningen and are now six points from safety. Groningen pulled three points clear of De Graafschap, who went down 2-0 to PEC Zwolle, while Willem II gave themselves some breathing space with a 2-0 win in Alkmaar.

Results

Friday

Excelsior 3-3 Utrecht

Saturday

AZ 0-2 Willem II Tilburg

De Graafschap 0-2 PEC Zwolle

Heerenveen 3-1 Fortuna Sittard

Sunday

Ajax 5-1 ADO Den Haag

Feyenoord 2-1 PSV Eindhoven

Heracles 3-1 VVV

Groningen 5-2 NAC Breda