By Jan-Kees Joosse (19/11/25)
Above: NAC Breda celebrate their first top flight win. Photo: Caroline van Leusden.
Round eight of the Dutch top flight of women’s football saw a historic pair of wins for new club HERA United and promoted NAC Breda.
NAC Breda 2 – 1 Excelsior
NAC Breda have had a historic Sunday victory against Excelsior – their first win since being promoted to the top flight. At home, in front of 2,200 supporters, they’ve put three points in their pocket and got themselves out of the relegation zone for now.
But it wasn’t easy for NAC, because they needed to come from behind. Excelsior, who’ve proven themselves as tougher opponents than last year, were expected to get a win at NAC. They certainly have the quality on the pitch and proved what they’re capable of in the first minutes.
Kathelyn Hendriks broke away down the flank, collecting a ball from the defence before getting her shot off. NAC’s Manoah van der Houwelingen was close by but couldn’t stop the play — her attempted clearance hesitated on her foot, helping the ball fall kindly for Hendriks. Hendriks pushed forward and squared it to the unmarked Naomi Hilhorst, who simply tapped it in to give Excelsior the lead.
But NAC Breda proved to have a real spirit about them this season. They’ve formed a team in over a year and were rushed to get ready with a big opportunity to play at the highest level. They’re not in it for just one year of experience at the top level and relegate to build from there – they want to stay.
Especially their attack has a lot going for it which was shown in their immediate response to the setback. Lynn Verhoef pulled a perfect ball behind the Excelsior defense to give a great opportunity for Brigitte Franken, who just pulled wide for the home-side.
The defense of NAC Breda is where they need to improve the most. Sarina Heijblom gave away the ball while trying to play out from the back. Her aim to recover the ball didn’t look bright either. NAC Breda got lucky with the hesitation from Excelsior’s Hendriks who wasn’t instinctive enough to make the right decision and extend their lead.
After the break neither team had many opportunities until late on. A big opportunity from a corner with Emily van der Vliet showed a first sign of the turn around for NAC Breda. Yentl van Gogh deserves all the credit in the world for the equalizer. The left-back picked up a missed header and played with a lot of technical skill herself in a position to give a great cross in front of goal. July Schneider tried to get it over the line, but Alieke de Wit tried to clear it of the goalline, to make it a poor own goal.
Excelsior did have a couple of chances to get them back in a winning position, but lacked a clinicallity. So did van Gogh’s second chance with a dangerous cross, but no NAC Breda player was there to hit it home. Franken punished poor defending from Hajar Balkhir. She stole the ball away from her in midfield and created her own opportunity via Kiki Heshof who anticipated Franken’s deeprun perfectly. Franken scored the winning 2-1 for NAC Breda, and wrote her name down in the history books.
ADO Den Haag 0 – 1 HERA United
HERA United won their first three points in the Eurojackpot Vrouwen Eredivisie. The squad from Amsterdam won thanks to a penalty taken by Janette van Belen. She wrote history for the first women’s-team-only football club in the Netherlands to secure a win in the Eredivisie.
ADO Den Haag and HERA United did not create a lot of opportunity, as if they were both scared to lose here. It was clear HERA United were trying to play a smart game to get corners and free kicks. In the 13th minute Vis was slightly touched while setting up an attack and fell eagerly to the ground to gain a free kick.
If they can’t win with attacking football, they have to be smarter. Van Beelen took the free kick and just hit the woodwork quite impressively. ADO Den Haag had the upper hand with danger coming from Iris Remmers and Bo Vonk. Just before the break, Anne van Egmond hit the woodwork as well, a rebound header was just hit over the bar.
After the break it all switched on for ADO den Haag, who seemed to have the upperhand in the game. In the 54th minute however, HERA’s Janette van Beelen aimed to get in the box to react to a cross in from her teammate, but got a slight touch by Vonk. van Beelen fell to the ground and the referee gave HERA a penalty. It was smart from the HERA forward, because she did what was needed to get a goal. She scored a strong penalty and got the lead for HERA United.
This secured HERA’s first win in the Eredivisie. After two draws and one win they’re now out of the relegation zone, which must make them happy. Yet, it’s absolutely one of the most cynical ways to write history. HERA United still need to improve a lot of their game play to attract fans and sponsors. With a lot of their players eager to go down with the slightest touch to get some free kick, it’s clear this was a tactical decision. I hope HERA United is able to focus on actually playing better football to raise the standard of the Eredivisie.
ADO Den Haag announced the departure of headcoach Martin Glotzbach, Sarina Wiegman’s husband, with just one point on the board. Another addition to the cynical taste this match has left in my mouth.
FC Utrecht 3 – 3 AZ Alkmaar
FC Utrecht against AZ might be the game you had to watch last sunday. AZ were 3-0 up at one point, but capitulated as Utrecht rescued a draw.
AZ started really strong against Utrecht. They pressed high with a defender constantly stepping into the forward line. They made FC Utrecht look uneasy like they weren’t sure what to do against their high press. It almost looked like the players of Utrecht weren’t really focussed in the start of the game. Which has been a problem sometimes this season. They didn’t win duels or second balls.
The first goal came out of a situation like this, where Gera op den Kelder stepped in to win a ball from AZ’s Desiree van Lunteren, but lost. The rest of the defense was left to 17-year old Aline Werelts. Jet van Beyeren was smart to put the ball through the hole op den Kelder left in the defense to give Shanique Dessing a 1 v 1 with the goalkeeper. Dessing struck gold and put AZ ahead.
From the stands it looked like Dessing was offside, the line referee was too late to see it properly. But still a deserved goal, with a misstep from Utrecht and a clever punishment from AZ. Nikita Tromp almost immediately nearly got an equalizer, but Netty Booms tipped it over the bar.
Shortly after a big chance by Van Lunteren, it was again FC Utrechts backline exposed with a wild attempt from Werelts to step in when AZ attacked. Op den Kelder who was exposed in the back made the decision to defend directly Fieke Kroeze who got the ball. She again stood 1v1 with the keeper and AZ strikers like Kroese don’t miss in these situations. On the wet field midfielder Marthe Munsterman defended well to intercept the ball from AZ attacker Dessing and kicked the ball back to her Utrecht teammate Joni Paliama. The right back slipped while trying to turn and was defeated. Dessing beat the goalkeeper to but the ball in the far corner and made it 3-0.
With only 28 minutes on the clock Utrecht faced an uphill battle. But there were also still more than 60 minutes to play. FC Utrecht did what they’ve done before against PEC Zwolle and FC Twente. They came back! Towards the break Tromp pulled of a strong shot towards goal, but goalkeeper Netty Booms wasn’t able to catch it and kicked it away, but right at where op Den Kelder expected the ball to fall and scored one of the easier goals in the Eredivisie.
This must has given FC Utrecht a bit of a boost after the break. AZ started pretty sloppy in the second half while Utrecht looked more confident. Belgian keeper Femke Bastiaen made a couple of great saves, but the Netherlands’ Tromp was the leader of the pack with plenty of chances created for Utrecht. She hit the post in the 50th minute, thanks to great work from the substitutes who gave much more width and security in midfield.
AZ’s rightback made an error in the passing, trying to patiently build up with a low crosspass to the keeper, but the 17-year old Rochelity Dapp was there to intercept and put a second goal in the back of the net. The equalizer for FC Utrecht was a screamer from Tromp who took a free kick from 25 meter and spotted goalkeeper standing of her line, expecting an attempt to assist a header from Tromp – but she kicked it instead to nab the equaliser. Both teams deserved a point for each half of great performances and great goals. AZ remain seventh and Utrecht are sixth in the Eredivisie standings.
SC Heerenveen 0 – 1 PEC Zwolle
The first half was undoubtedly in favor of PEC Zwolle. With a really stable and well structured defense and midfield, Hannah Huizinga came in to a hattrick of scoring opportunities but lacked an overall clinicality. The striker has a lot of expectations on her shoulders to bear since Zoë Zuidberg ruptured her ACL a couple of weeks ago.
Despite Heerenveen’s attacking style of play, which can be very entertaining to watch, they don’t have enough defensive instinct in the squad. The players are not the most physical to clear the goal. It was mostly due to Zwolle’s lack of a good finish that they didn’t concede more.
PEC Zwolle are level in points with PSV and Feyenoord and currently at fifth in the table, but they’ve only faced FC Twente and FC Utrecht who were top of the table last season. Upcoming months are going to be tough for Zwolle. They’ll face Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV and AZ upcoming months. They won’t have a breather up until 24th of january against NAC Breda. So PEC now needs to show what they’re made of!
Ajax 2 – 1 PSV
A week before the other matches Ajax played PSV in the Johan Cruijf Arena. Last year they lost with 0-2, but now they managed to get a win hanks to a very remarkable goal, in a match that was crucial for Ajax’s title hopes. The match seemed destined to end 1–1, until PSV defender Myrthe Kemper-Moorrees clumsily put the ball into her own net in stoppage time.
The minimum of five added minutes had just expired in the Johan Cruijff ArenA when Ajax player Mirte van Koppen sent in a harmless cross. Kemper-Moorrees attempted to control the ball with her chest, but failed to do so.
The ball slowly rolled into her own goal, with goalkeeper Nicky Evrard unable to come to her teammate’s rescue. After the blunder, PSV – with Kemper-Moorrees still on the pitch – pushed forward in full attack, but there wasn’t enough time left to force an equaliser.
PSV thus ended the match with huge disappointment, despite having started well. Just a minute had been played when Chimera Ripa made it 0-1. Shortly before halftime, Danique Tolhoek scored the equaliser for Ajax.
With the victory, Ajax are still very much a title contenders for the league.
Player Danique Noordman was announced as player of the match against PSV. Read here why she’s one of the upcoming stars for The Netherlands.
FC Twente 3 – 2 Feyenoord
Twente showed their prowess as the title holders as they found a last-minute victory thanks to Jill Roord, who got the winner in the final moments to keep the Tukkers at the head of the table. Never has her dad Renée Roord, the technical manager of FC Twente, lost his cool from the stands like this. He was rightfully buzzing for his club and daughter!
The last-minute win contrasted Twente and Feyenoord’s first half.The first half of the game offered little excitement. Feyenoord allowed Twente to have the ball and responded with a solid defensive block. The home side produced little more than two long-range shots saved by goalkeeper Jacintha Weimar and a header wide by Jaimy Ravensbergen.
On the rare occasions Feyenoord could think about attacking, Mao Itamura threatened with a powerful effort, while just before halftime Fleur Stoit failed to make proper contact with a cross from Zera Hulswit.
After the break, the match finally came to life. Charlotte Hulst was able to cross low from the right, insufficiently challenged by Justine Brandau, allowing Ravensbergen to smash the ball in at the near post: 1-0. That goal forced Feyenoord to abandon their defensive stance, and Jessica Torny’s side did just that.
The technical wonder Itamura struck the outside of the post with a shot that Ella Van Kerkhoven just failed to poke in. Hulswit had more luck with her cross: the ball sailed over goalkeeper Diede Lemey and into the Twente net, 1-1 in the 55th minute.
Twente had twice appealed for a penalty in vain when, in the 69th minute, they capitalised on a misunderstanding between Weimar and Esmee de Graaf. Neither intervened on a flicked-on ball by Ravensbergen, which rolled into the Rotterdam goal via the quickly reacting Sophie Proost: 2–1.
The deserved lead was nearly extended by a header from Roord, but once again Feyenoord refused to accept the situation. After a solo run from Itamura – who bypassed four defenders and even nutmegged one – the Japanese player fired at Lemey. In the rebound, substitute Kirsten van de Westeringh scored: 2-2.
In added time, a promising header from Roord landed in the hands of Weimar, but the goalkeeper stood no chance when the same Dutch international was completely left unmarked by the Feyenoord defence after a low cross from substitute Roos Ivens: 3-2, to the great disappointment of the Rotterdam camp. Over the season Feyenoord have shown they are vulnerable at the back in the final phase of the game – conceding late goals is something they have to iron out if they are to make a serious claim of title contender.
Follow Jan for news about Dutch women’s football at www.fcleeuwinnen.nl.
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