Eredivisie: Twente 3 Heracles 1

Quincy Promes’ sixth Eredivisie goal in his last five games sent Twente top after the 3-1 win over 10-man Heracles on Friday.

The 2010-11 champions cranked up the pressure on title rivals Ajax and Vitesse – who play on Saturday and Sunday respectively this weekend – by extending their unbeaten league run to nine games as Promes continued his purple patch in front of goal.

The winger broke the deadlock with a fine individual strike midway through the first half as he cut inside from the right wing and deceived his marker with some nifty footwork before firing low across goalkeeper Remko Pasveer.

Luc Castaignos took his Eredivisie tally for the campaign to 11 when he doubled Twente’s lead 10 minutes into the second period. Pasveer saved his initial effort, but Castaignos made no mistake with his second attempt as he rammed home the rebound.

Heracles’ evening went from bad to worse one minute later when Jeroen Veldmate was shown a straight red card for hauling down Youness Mokhtar as the last man. And Dusan Tadic curled the resulting free-kick against the post.

Mark Uth then handed Heracles an unlikely way back into the contest with 14 minutes remaining thanks to an emphatic finish.

Uth latched on to a loose ball on the halfway line, advanced goalwards and skipped past two defenders before firing high past Nick Marsman.

But Tadic put the game beyond any doubt from the penalty spot in the 88th minute, smashed his spot-kick in via the underside of the crossbar as Twente drew level on points with Ajax and Vitesse to take top spot on goal difference.