Eredivisie wrap: Utrecht break through, Roda JC win thriler

FC Utrecht picked up their first win in three matches with a 3-0 victory over RKC Waalwijk in the Eredivisie on Saturday.

Erwin Koeman’s men got off to a great start when Rodney Sneijder fired them ahead on 16 minutes, and they then took a numerical advantage when RKC striker Geoffrey Castillion received a second yellow card in the 41st minute.

The hosts at Stadion Galgenwaard took full advantage after the break, with Johan Martensson and Jacob Mulenga both scoring to ensure an emphatic victory.

The win took Utrecht into eighth spot, one point behind RKC in seventh.

Elsewhere, Vitesse and Heerenveen traded late goals to finish with a 1-1 draw at the GelreDome.

The home side found the lead late when Wilfried Bony scored in the 88th minute, but Heerenveen found an equaliser through Jeffrey Gouweleeuw to rescue a point.

Roda JC took the spoils in a seven-goal thriller over NAC Breda, winning 4-3 to leap out of the relegation zone.

Roda got off to a flying start at their Parkstad Limburg Stadion home, finding themselves 2-0 ahead by the half-hour mark courtesy of goals from Sanhariv Malki and veteran Laurent Delorge.

Attacker Omer Bayram pulled one back for NAC, only for Syrian striker Malki to score his second and have the hosts 3-1 ahead at the break.

Nemanja Gudelj scored a rare goal from defence to pull his side within one, but Roda responded once more through Ruud Vormer on 63 minutes.

NAC never threw in the towel, however, fighting back to 4-3 when Alex Schalk struck in the 80th minute, but they could not find an all-important equaliser.

Roda now have six points from seven games and are in 15th place, while NAC are one point above them in 12th.