With PSV kicking off the second Eredivisie weekend of 2025 away at PEC Zwolle, no one was expecting the home side to take anything away from a PSV side which was set on grabbing their first league win of the calendar year.
But a week after their home draw against AZ, PSV had to bite another bullet as PEC Zwolle beat the Eindhoven side for the first time since September 2014 after Bulgarian winger Filip Krastev hurt the reigning champions with two goals and an assist in his team’s 3-1 win – their first since November.
PSV look to rebuild as soon as possible with a Champions League fixture against Serbian Red Star on the schedule but will have to do so without American starlet Malik Tillman. The midfielder suffered an injury in practice and will miss a considerable amount of time.
Saturday night proved to be disastrous for teams residing in the top six of the league with FC Utrecht and AZ sharing the points in a disappointing battle between the third and sixth-placed clubs.
Just days after their cup victories over RKC Waalwijk and Ajax, Utrecht and AZ couldn’t manage to entertain a roaring Stadion Galgenwaard with neither side managing to amass an xG higher than 0.77.
Just an hour later, Feyenoord became the fourth member of the top 6 to drop points as the Rotterdam side couldn’t beat freshly promoted Willem II in Tilburg.
After Calvin Stengs got stripped from a goal after the VAR deemed the creative midfielder to be offside, Brazilian Igor Paixao opened the scoring right before half-time with a thunderous finish. However, Jesse Bosch salvaged a point with the only short on target the home side managed all game, leaving Feyenoord winless for the third consecutive Eredivisie game.
Problems for the top teams kept stacking up when FC Twente lost their second game in five days’ time, this time away at NAC Breda.
Scandinavian stars Adam Kaied and Elias Mar Omarsson helped NAC to a 2-0 lead after just twenty minutes after their classy goals against the Europa League outfit. Daan Rots got Twente back in the game with just thirteen minutes to spare and thought former Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel equalized just three minutes later, but his goal got ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review.
Elsewhere, NEC Nijmegen and Fortuna Sittard battled out a fantastic game with almost exclusively beautiful goals. Sami Ouaissa opened the feast with a stunning curled effort from a free kick, after which Fortuna midfielder Loreintz Rosier launched a rocket which left NEC stopper Robin Roefs hopeless in his attempt to keep a second consecutive clean sheet for the first time since early November.
Vito van Crooij and Calvin Verdonk added to the festivities 25 minutes after the break when Van Crooij slotted the ball home straight from a corner and Indonesian international Verdonk smashed the ball home via the crossbar.
Go Ahead Eagles continued their mesmerising Eredivisie campaign Saturday night when striker Milan Smit earned the home side their fourth victory in five league games with an injury time winner against FC Groningen - his first goal for the club.
The relegation battle between Sparta Rotterdam and RKC Waalwijk - the last game of the week - ended in a rather dull 1-1 draw, leaving Sparta manager Maurice Steijn winless in his eighth league game in charge.
The former Ajax boss got reappointed as manager of Sparta in early November after winning just two of their first ten games of the campaign. The three losses the Rotterdam club endured during that period would be a rather acceptable feat now as Steijn has lost five of his eight games in charge during his second stint at Sparta.
Winners of the Week
With everyone in the upper regions failing to grab top points, Ajax were left with the challenge to narrow the gap to league leaders PSV to just one point and leaving Utrecht at least temporarily behind.
Robin van Persie’s Heerenveen side were the opponents after their historic cup loss to amateur team Quick Boys just days prior – a loss which made Quick Boys become the first amateur side in KNVB Cup history with three wins over opponents from the Eredivisie.
Croatian defender Josip Sutalo, who returned from a rather lengthy illness for the away game in chilly Frisia, opened the scoring 20 minutes in with a neat header from an Anton Gaaei corner. Gaaei filled in for starter Devyne Rensch at the right-back spot amidst transfer rumours surrounding the one-time Dutch international.
After Kenneth Taylor got his fourth goal in as many Eredivisie games stripped from him due to an offside infringement, Englishman Chuba Akpom earned Ajax a 2-0 win at Heerenveen, meaning the record champions are now just one point behind PSV.
526 days after last having occupied the top spot in the Eredivisie, Ajax are ready to challenge PSV for their first title since the Erik ten Hag era. The fight will have to wait for February as Ajax have been given a weekend off in order to rest properly in between two consecutive Europa League games.
Losers of the Week
Although PSV are in the middle of a minor crisis with two consecutive games without a win and Malik Tillman's injury, the rising situation at giants Feyenoord are astounding.
Just months after saying goodbye to famed manager Arne Slot, calls for boss Brian Priske to get fired are louder than ever. Feyenoord dropped points for the third time running in the Eredivisie after their losses to PSV (3-0) and FC Utrecht (1-2).
An uninspired outing away at Willem II left fans of the famous Rotterdam club furious with their team now being nine points behind bitter rivals Ajax who possess the all-important second spot in the table - the last spot earning a team direct Champions League qualification.
With top goalscorer Santiago Gimenez back from injury, Feyenoord suffered from injuries yet again as midfield leaders Hwang In-beom and Quinten Timber missed the Willem II game.
A fruitless second half saw Feyenoord drop more points and show more defensive faults as Jesse Bosch's equaliser meant Feyenoord's last clean sheet dates from November 23rd. Feyenoord have managed to keeo just three clean sheets all season long - only RKC and Sparta (both 1) have done worse in this regard.
With some wondering whether Priske is in control of Feyenoord for their Champions League game against German giants Bayern, the Danish manager stayed calm: "For me, the result is bad. Football-wise, it's not too bad. Does it need to be better? Yes, of course.
"We do everything to perform better. I can yell and scream, but that doesn't solve anything.
"For me, it is important to be clear to my players. We have good players in the team, but we may be missing one or two players with the right qualities."
Firing a manager should be a last resort for any team and in my opinion, the calls for Priske to get the sack are not (yet?) deserved.
What does speak against the Dane is the gauntlet of an upcoming schedule: Feyenoord host Bayern Munich in the Champions League this week before visiting Lille on the final game day of the Champions League's league phase. There will be no rest bite to be taken for Feyenoord as they play the 'Klassieker' in Amsterdam against Ajax before visiting PSV in Eindhoven in the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup.
I may find his sacking undeserved for now, the coming run of games could prove to be too much for Priske and Feyenoord might be without a manager come early February.
Goal of the Week
With the game between NEC and Fortuna Sittard providing several moments of beauty, Sami Ouaissa's opener couldn't be beaten.
Ouaissa hadn't scored since the NEC's game in early November at RKC and reopened his account in spectacular fashion as the skillful forward curled in a free-kick from the far edge of the box, much to the surprise of Fortuna goalkeeper Luuk Koopmans. A real pearler.
Team of the Week
After his stellar performance against PSV, Filip Krastev is the deserved Player of the Week with his three goal contributions in the 3-1 victory over the flailing reigning champions.
Krastev is joined by Igor Paixao and Chuba Akpom in the attack after their goals against Willem II and Heerenveen.
With little to no midfielders scoring high grades, the showstopping defense is highlighted by excellent scores from Mats Rots and Josip Sutalo after their goals and defensively excellent outings away at Almere City and Heerenveen. RKC's Said Bakari managed to get the nod after his skillful goal away at Sparta, whereas NAC centre half Leo Greiml showed great defensive stability in his side's 2-1 win over FC Twente.
Fabian de Keijzer concludes this week's Team of the Week after the stopper notched his first clean sheet in the league since November 2nd.