By Jan-Kees Joosse (28/1/26)
Above: Jill Roord celebrates her hattrick. Photo: FC Twente Vrouwen.
This week the Eredivisie delivered a Jill Roord hattrick as Twente reasserted their dominance. A new ‘best of the rest’ also emerged as confident Heerenveen continued to score many more goals than they have in the last few seasons.
AZ 0-4 FC Twente
FC Twente Women secured a convincing 0-4 away victory over AZ on Sunday evening in the Eurojackpot Women’s Eredivisie, with Jill Roord finally adding to her somewhat light tally in the Eredivisie. Her hattrick proved she’s the star of the team.
Inside ten minutes, Roord received the ball just outside the penalty area and calmly placed a left-footed shot into the far corner to make it 0–1. Her shot was calm but precize, showcasing why she’s one of the best Dutch midfielders.
FC Twente continued to press high and disrupt AZ’s build-up play, a tactic that soon paid off again. A poorly weighted back pass from the home side was intercepted by Roord, who rounded goalkeeper Febe Copier and finished with ease for her second goal of the evening.
The visitors went into the break with a comfortable two-goal lead. After half-time, Twente had less control over the game but rarely came under serious threat, as AZ struggled to create clear-cut chances. Confidence is clearly lacking after losing to Heerenveen last week, and the absence of a suspended Desiree van Lunteren is cleary felt.
Ajax might be the ‘talent team’, but FC Twente proved in the last 30 minutes to have talent in their collective. Liv Pennock came on as a substitute and proved she’s an absolute star in the making. On the right wing she poses such a thread with her technical feet and pace.
Again she was able to take on defenders by surprise. Liv Pennock was fouled in the penalty area, and Roord stepped up to complete her hat-trick from the spot. Shortly afterwards, youngster Eva Oude Elberink added a fourth goal assisted by Pennock.
ADO Den Haag 0-3 Ajax
Ajax Women recorded a comfortable 0-3 victory away at bottom side ADO Den Haag, despite missing a lot of big chances. Even though coach Anouk Bruijl was annoyed her team didn’t score more, Ajax remains the leader of the Eredivisie.
Ajax is known to score early this season and they did so in the 12th round of the Eredivisie. The opening goal arrived after fifteen minutes. Following a blocked attempt by Xanne Kip, left winger Bo van Egmond reacted quickest and scored the 1-0.
A lot of chances were created, yet a lot of youngsters went for their own luck, instead of giving the ball to a better positioned player. Striker Danique Tolhoek was visibly frustrated by her teammates when she should’ve been given the ball to extend the lead. A strong run from leftback Amber Visscher gave her goal number 9 this season.
ADO Den Haag came close to pulling one back, thanks to a couple of take on’s by new signing Yuna Sonoda. But just before the break Ajax were the ones who came close to another goal. Danique Noordman thunderstorm of attack deserved a goal, but her venom strike hit the crossbar. A bitter sight was seeing veteran Sherida Spitse down on the ground. She was forced off, while she’s just been back from injury.
The decisive third goal eventually came late on through substitute Daniëlle Noordermeer. She scored an absolute beauty of a goal! The defender took a shot from around 25 metres into the top corner against her former club! She’s becoming an absolute gem in the Eredivisie with her technical goals.
This shows Ajax has an incredible range of goalscorers, in every position! This is their strongest weapon to remain on top and win the title, but FC Twente still has a game in hand.
PSV 3-0 Utrecht
PSV made a flying start against Utrecht, slicing through the visitors’ defence within the opening minute to take an early lead. A swift passing move saw the ball fall to Liz Rijsbergen, who calmly finished underneath goalkeeper Femke Bastiaen to make it 1–0.
The pressure from the Eindhoven side continued, and the second goal followed after a defensive error from Utrecht. Aline Weerelts attempted to play the ball back to Bastiaen while seated on the ground, but the pass was far too weak. PSV capitalised immediately, and Lore Jacobs was left with a simple tap-in into an empty net to double the advantage.
Not long after, PSV struck again. Marthe Munsterman was caught out defensively as Chimera Ripa made a well-timed run behind her. The PSV forward remained composed and finished clinically to make it 3-0 before half-time. Again FC Utrecht failed dramatically in the first half to, at least, keep a clean sheet.
In the second half, PSV did not add to their tally, easing off slightly while maintaining control of the match. Utrecht enjoyed spells of possession and attempted several efforts from distance, but they failed to seriously test PSV goalkeeper Nicky Evrard.
Overall, PSV looks like the one to push Ajax and FC Twente to another level for the title! They have the most mature team right now and seem ready for another try at Champions League football next season.
Excelsior 2-4 Heerenveen
In the relegation fight Heerenveen got an important win over Excelsior. Heerenveen won with an impressive 4-2 and showed a confidence they must have gotten in their win against AZ, whom they now have surpassed in the Eredivisie Standings.
Heerenveen threatened early, with a deflected cross from Altena narrowly missing the target. In the seventh minute, the visitors opened the scoring when Venema headed home from a corner. Heerenveen extended their lead following a fast build-up and a scramble in the box, with Maass eventually poking the ball home.
Excelsior reduced the deficit in the 27th minute when Verheijen headed in from a corner, restoring hope for the hosts. That hope was short-lived, however, as Maatman made it 1–3, once again from a corner.
After the break, Excelsior made three substitutions, which injected fresh energy into the team. Westerink pulled one back in the 60th minute, finishing from close range after another corner. Just three minutes later, Heerenveen struck again, with Kroezen scoring the decisive fourth goal via a deflection. Excelsior pushed forward late on, but clear chances failed to materialise.
Heerenveen have gotten wind under their wings and are now pretty much out of the relegation fight with 13 points on the board. Excelsior, selling Caitlin Hendriks to FC Twente, are in a bad position to get out of the relegation zone.
HERA 0-1 Feyenoord
Feyenoord Women claimed a narrow 0–1 away win over HERA United on Sunday afternoon, with a single goal from Esmee de Graaf proving enough to secure all three points in round twelve of the Eurojackpot Women’s Eredivisie.
The Rotterdam side dominated possession in the first half and spent long spells camped in the opposition half. However, their play lacked precision, and HERA’s defense looked solid. After seventeen minutes, Feyenoord eventually broke the deadlock, with Itamura stealing the ball away to give an assist to Esmee de Graaf who just had to knick it home.
After the break, Feyenoord continued to control the game but again struggled with inaccurate passing in the final third. As a result, they were unable to kill the match off early. HERA had growing hopes of getting points and started to shoot from distance, but failed to score!
The victory keeps Feyenoord firmly in contention near the top of the league table. They breathe down the neck of PSV, but it won’t surprise me if they’ve used up their luck. With small wins against teams lower down the table they don’t look convincing enough to get in third place over a solid PSV.
NAC Breda 1-2 PEC Zwolle
PEC Zwolle claimed a hard-fought 1–2 away win over NAC Breda on Sunday evening, with Lyanne Iedema scoring a late winner at the ground of VV Internos. The result keeps the Zwolle side firmly in the race for the top four.
From the opening stages, PEC Zwolle were the stronger team. Early on, the visitors saw an effort cleared off the line, while at the other end Indi van Dalen fired wide for NAC. After nearly half an hour, PEC Zwolle took a deserved lead. Britt Udink picked out Hanna Huizenga, and the striker finished confidently to make it 0–1.
NAC responded well and were unfortunate not to equalise shortly afterwards, with Kiki Heshof striking the crossbar. The match remained tense into the second half, with both sides battling for control.
The decisive moments came late on. Four minutes from time, Brigitte Franken scored the equaliser, raising expectations of a draw. PEC Zwolle, however, refused to settle for a point. Almost immediately, Lyanne Iedema produced a fine curving strike to restore the lead and seal a dramatic victory!
Follow Jan for news about Dutch women’s football at www.fcleeuwinnen.nl.
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