The last Sunday slate from the Dutch Eredivisie before October's international break featured three dramatic endings, with one team securing a derby win, and 14 goals scored across the four games. Time for a roundup
FC Twente - Heracles Almelo: 2-1
FC Twente grabbed an emotional derby win over Heracles Almelo, who finished the game against ten men following Bart van Rooij's dismissal.
After Ricky van Wolfswinkel missed a chance with a clear sight on goal earlier in the half, Slovakian defender Ivan Mesik scored the opener for Heracles near the end of the first half, heading in a corner from Australian ace Ajdin Hrustic.
FC Twente replied shortly after the break through a headed goal of their own, courtesy of Max Bruns. Norwegian starlet Sondre Ojsasaeter hit the crossbar shortly after, which was the last bit of offensive danger from either side until the final ten minutes.
Twente midfielder Thomas van den Belt scored for the second game in a row when he beat Fabian de Keijzer with a low cruise missile from the edge of the box, giving the home side the lead for the last ten minutes.
Heracles immediately threatened to do something back, but Bart van Rooij pulled striker Mario Engels to the ground as the last man, which cost the right-back a red card. Heracles failed to create any danger thereafter, however, earning FC Twente a derby win and their third consecutive league win.
AZ - Telstar: 2-1
Telstar fought for what they were worth, but could not snatch a point from the tricky away game at fellow Noord-Holland club AZ: 2-1.
Neville Ogidi Nwankwo committed an early foul in his own box, gifting AZ a penalty inside the first fifteen minutes. Mexx Meerdink, who received his first senior call-up for the Netherlands earlier this week, took the ball and calmly converted from the spot, beating Ronald Koeman Jr., son of Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman.
Meerdink came eerily close to doubling AZ's lead quickly after scoring the opener, but his effort with the outside of the foot rolled just wide of Koeman's far corner.
Telstar nearly fought their way back in the game before half-time when Tyrese Noslin launched Kay Tejan with a perfect deep pass, but the striker couldn't keep his cool and find a team-mate after goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro left his goal.
Instead, AZ doubled the lead on the brink of half-time via Czech starlet Matej Sin, who saw his chip over Koeman Jr. hit the post before firing home the consequent rebound.
AZ continued to barrage Telstar's goal after the break via Meerdink, but instead it were Telstar who got on the scoreboard via Tyrese Noslin, who calmly rolled the ball past the near post shortly past the hour mark.
AZ continued to create chances, but could not find another goal as the Alkmaar outfit won their first league game since September 14th.
Go Ahead Eagles - NEC: 1-1
Go Ahead Eagles followed up their maiden UEFA Europa League win with a dramatic draw in the Eredivisie, holding NEC to 1-1 in the final minutes of the game.
Danish star Jakob Breum nearly got the home side in front with a fantastic free-kick, but saw it take a wild deflection onto the crossbar. The Eagles were the victim of another wild deflection later in the first half, when NEC striker Koki Ogawa's header hit the post and ended up in the goal via the head of goalkeeper Jari De Busser.
Gerrit Nauber saw a header get cleared off the line later in the first half, after which Mathis Suray also saw his acrobatic effort hit the crossbar in an unfortunate half for the home side.
A fantastic save from De Busser on a rocket from Tjaronn Chery kept the Eagles in the game late in the second half, before NEC defender Philippe Sandler got his second yellow card of the game for hitting Milan Smit with his elbow.
A point was saved in injury time when Gerrit Nauber headed in a corner after being left all alone at the far post. Three points were in reach for Go Ahead Eagles, but Oscar Pettersson hit the post in the 96th minute to keep the score even and earn both teams a point.
Feyenoord - FC Utrecht: 3-2
Feyenoord won a dramatic meeting with FC Utrecht on Sunday afternoon, courtesy of a vintage Ayase Ueda performance. To read everything about Feyenoord's seventh win in eight games, check out our full match report.