Eredivisie wrap: PSV fluff chance as Twente held

PSV Eindhoven made a mess of a gilt-edged opportunity to join Twente in the Eredivisie lead on Sunday, drawing 2-2 with visiting Heerenveen.

The title hopefuls salvaged a point at the Philips Stadion thanks to substitute Ola Toivonen’s injury-time strike, but missed a chance to join Twente on 64 points after the reigning champions were held 1-1 by Roda JC.

PSV took the lead in the 58th minute on Jeremain Lens’ opener, but goals from Ousama Assaidi and Bas Dost in a nightmarish three-minute period left the hosts gasping for breath.

It seemed it could only get worse for PSV as veteran defender Wilfred Bouma saw red in the 80th minute, but Sweden striker Toivonen kept their campaign alive and his club within two points of Twente with his last-gasp equaliser.

Netherlands international Lens needed a bit of luck to nab PSV’s opener, swiping across his body at a loose ball after Atiba Hutchinson’s heavy touch fell fortuitously for his team-mate.

That prompted the introduction of substitute Luciano Narsingh for Heerenveen, which paid dividends when he bullied his way down the right and cut back for Assaidi’s equaliser 12 minutes later.

Narsingh’s pace again proved problematic three minutes later, with the 20-year-old beating Erik Pieters in a foot-race to a well-placed through ball and setting up Dost for Heerenveen’s second goal.

But there was time for Toivonen to pounce on Lens’ desperate cross from the right in the first minute of injury time.

Elsewhere, Twente also salvaged a point when Theo Janssen netted a late penalty in a match where both sides went down to 10 men.

Roda substitute Boldizsar Bodor was introduced on the hour and made his presence known up forward, firing a low strike from 18 yards out to put the visitors ahead 1-0 in the 77th minute.

But Roda goalkeeper Mateusz Prus turned villain by upending Costa Rica striker Bryan Ruiz in a one-on-one challenge. He earned a red card for his troubles and conceded a spot kick to Janssen, who calmly finished past substitute keeper Collin van Eijk.

Twente held on for the draw despite losing defender Roberto Rosales to a late red, with the Venezuelan given his marching orders for cutting down Dane Morten Skoubo in the 95th minute.

In other results, Ajax’s title tilt took another twist as the Amsterdam giants defeated Groningen 2-0.

Miralem Sulejmani (69) and Jan Vertonghen (72) fired off back-to-back strikes to drag third-placed Ajax within one point of PSV and three points of Twente.

Finally, Utrecht slumped to a third straight loss with a 4-0 thumping at the hands of visiting Feyenoord.