Eredivisie roundup: ADO Den Haag win after firing coach, Telstar suffer nightmare own goal

Friday, November 6th

Willem II and PEC Zwolle shared the spoils in a tightly fought contest in Tilburg: 1-1.

The match started with both sides firing on all cylinders, with Sydney van Hooijdonk scoring a spectacular opener in the second minute, one minute before Hidde ter Avest equalised for the hosts.

The two sides fought hard for the points, leading to many physical duels. PEC felt they deserved a penalty midway through the first half when Van Hooijdonk was brought down with his opponent wrapped around him, but the visitors were denied a spot-kick. It was an otherwise tame matchup in Tilburg, with both teams content with a point.

Saturday, November 7th

A nightmare own goal saw Telstar hand Fortuna Sittard a comfortable lead, but a late first-half flurry saw the brave visitors salvage a point in Sittard.

Fortuna took an early lead from the penalty spot, with Mohammed Ihattaren staying cool in the 14th minute. The Limburg side had their lead comfortably doubled by Sem Valk, who played an inexcusable back-pass right over Ronald Koeman Jr.’s head and into his own net.

Telstar weren’t down and out, however, and grabbed a lifeline when Abdelnour Soualhia lofted a header over Matthijs Branderhorst, just two minutes before Patrick Brouwer was promoted from assister to goalscorer when he flicked in an extended long throw-in.

The second half was a poor display from both teams, but both created several chances in the latter stages to force their way into the lead. Branderhorst pulled off some impressive saves, however, keeping the draw in place.

ADO Den Haag won the first game after coach Robin Peter was fired, comfortably dealing Sparta Rotterdam a 3-1 defeat in The Hague.

Juho Kilo was the difference maker in a first half otherwise controlled by Sparta Rotterdam, who erased the hosts’ lead shortly after half-time via Bas Kuipers.

ADO restored their lead less than 15 minutes into the second half, when Nigel Thomas profited from a horrific mistake from goalkeeper Patrick Brouwer, who slipped and handed the Curaçao forward an easy goal. Daryl van Mieghem made it 3-1 to the hosts by expertly flicking a cross into substitute goalkeeper Filip Bednarek’s far corner, giving ADO a memorable win in a rocky week.

Eredivisie top scorer Soren Tengstedt continued his red-hot form in Rotterdam, giving Go Ahead Eagles just their second win since August 23rd.

The uneventful first half left no side the favourite, and the second half was more of the same until Tengstedt broke the deadlock with a powerful finish at the near post. Excelsior pushed, but could not find a breakthrough and failed to rebound properly from last week’s 9-0 drubbing by FC Twente.