Eredivisie Wrap: Piazon inspires Vitesse victory, Ajax win

Lucas Piazon scored twice as Vitesse Arnhem beat NAC Breda 3-2 at home on Sunday to stretch their winning run to six Eredivisie games.

The on-loan Chelsea forward took his tally to five goals in his last four games after Jordy Buijs had put NAC in front at the GelreDome.

Brazilian teenager Piazon equalised with a penalty 10 minutes before half-time, then added a second five minutes after the break. Kelvin Leerdam scored a third after 84 minutes to ensure Anthony Lurling’s strike a minute from time was in vain.

In-form Ajax put their UEFA Champions League heartbreak behind them by beating Cambuur Leeuwar 2-1 to make it five Eredivisie wins in a row.

The Amsterdam giants failed to secure the victory against 10-man Milan in midweek that they needed to progress to the last 16 of Europe’s premier club competition.

But Davy Klaassen snatched a late winner to take his tally to six goals in his last four Eredivisie games to ensure Ajax remain two points behind Vitesse.

Klaassen laid on the first goal for Danish midfielder Lasse Schone, then Michiel Hemmen equalised nine minutes from time but the 20-year-old’s late strike stunned the home side. Marcel Ritzmaier was then shown a second yellow card to compound struggling Cambuur’s misery.

PSV ended their dismal run of four consecutive defeats in all competitions and eased the pressure on coach Philipp Cocu by hammering Utrecht 5-1 away from home.

The Eindhoven outfit crashed out of the UEFA Europa League in midweek when they were beaten by Bulgarian club Chornomorets and had won just one of their last 12 games, but Utrecht were unable to live with them as Adam Maher and Memphis Depay both scored twice.

Cocu’s side were 4-0 up at half-time, while Utrecht had Steve De Ridder and their goalscorer, Dave Bulthuis, dismissed after the break as PSV moved just a point behind them in ninth place.

An early goal from Graziano Pelle gave fourth-placed Feyenoord a 1-0 home win over Groningen, while Hercules Almelo beat AZ 2-0.