Eredivisie wrap: Ajax extend advantage

Ajax extended their lead atop the Eredivise to three points after routing Heerenveen on Wednesday, while AZ dropped points against Twente.

Frank De Boer’s Ajax were in superb form as they ran out 5-0 winners at Abe Lenstra Stadion, with first-half goals to Theo Janssen, Ismail Aissati and a Siem de Jong brace handing them a 4-0 lead at half-time.

De Jong completed his hat-trick in the 63rd minute as the Amsterdam giants took a major step towards retaining their title.

With two points separating them and Ajax heading into the midweek fixtures, AZ were under pressure to stay in touch with the leaders but could only manage a 2-2 draw against Twente.

Jozy Altidor openend the scoring for hosts AZ inside the opening passages of play but the US international’s goal was cancelled out by Luuk de Jong in the 31st minute.

Altidor restored his side’s lead with 20 minutes remaining, only for Emir Bajrami to salvage a point for the visitors in injury time.

PSV’s title hopes also took a potentially decisive blow, with the Eindhoven club succumbing to a shock 2-1 defeat at RKC Waalwijk.

Sander Duits and Mitchell Schet gave Waalwijk a 2-0 lead after scoring in the 55th and 57th minutes respectively, with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s 86th-minute strike coming too late for PSV, who trail Ajax by seven points.

Elsewhere, NAC Breda lost out 2-1 to Heracles at home, while Feyenoord were held to a scoreless draw at Roda JC.