Eredivisie wrap: Heerenveen fight for top two

Heerenveen kept their hopes of a top-two finish in the Eredivisie alive with a 4-2 win over Heracles on Saturday.

With five teams still in the race for second spot, and the Champions League berth that goes with it, Heerenveen pressed their claim with an impressive away victory at the Polman Stadium.

Bas Dost scored the only goal of the first half as Heerenveen took a 1-0 lead into the break, and they double their advantage soon after the restart when Luciano Narsingh found the back of the net.

The hosts hit back when Willy Overtoom scored from the penalty spot just shy of the hour mark, but Filip Djuricic restored Heeerenveen’s two goal advantage 12 minutes later.

Heracles pressed again and found a second goal though Thomas Bruns, but Dost settled the matter in the 80th minute when he scored his second to seal the points for Heerenveen.

They now move to fourth place with 61 points, level with AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord who meet on Sunday.

At the other end of the table, VVV Venlo staved off relegation for another week with a 2-1 victory over ADO Den Haag.

Den Haag’s Kenneth Omeruo had a horrible day despite scoring the equaliser for his side, as he also netted the own goal which won the match for VVV before getting sent off in the second half.

VVV, who occupy the top relegation playoff spot, remain four point behind Den Haag with two games remaining.

Excelsior’s hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a blow fter they threw away a two goal lead and went down 3-2 against Vitesse Arnhem.

An own goal from Jan van der Heiden and another strike from Roland Alberg had put the bottom side 2-0 up, but a brace of penalties from Alexander Buttner and an injury time strike from Marco van Ginkel gave Vitesse the win and keeps Excelsior two points behind De Graafschap.

Meanwhile, NAC Breda broke a six match winless run with a 3-1 victory away at Utrecht.