The pressure on trainer Kees van Wonderen will probably increase further in Friesland. SC Heerenveen lost for the fifth time in a row in the Eredivisie on Saturday, this time 1-0 against FC Twente. Michel Vlap, who started his career with the Frisians, was crowned match winner in the Grolsch Veste. Andries Noppert, who has already been involved in several mistakes this season, did not look good when Twente scored the winning goal.
On the Twente side, which lost for the first time last week against RKC Waalwijk (1-0), there was only one change. Manfred Ugalde returned to the point of attack, causing veteran Ricky van Wolfswinkel to return to the bench. Van Wonderen changed his ailing team in no fewer than four places compared to the ignominious 0-3 defeat against Excelsior a week ago. Striker Ion Nicolaescu was referred to the reserve bench and Pelle van Amersfoort was the attack leader. Patrik Walemark also returned to the visitors’ starting line-up.
Michel Vlap, of all people, was the great hero of FC Twente.
Twente immediately took the initiative and Noppert quickly had to defuse a header from Sem Steijn. The son of the Ajax coach was particularly active in the first half and was unlucky that the Heerenveen goalkeeper prevented him from scoring several times in Enschede. Ugalde had a good shooting opportunity in the final minute, but he also failed to break the spell. Heerenveen, where Van Amersfoort had a hard time as a lone striker, was the happiest with the 0-0 score halfway in the Grolsch Veste.
Joseph Oosting decided halfway through to bring on Carel Eiting for Mathias Kjølø. Heerenveen, which has scored a truckload of goals in recent weeks, came out of its shell a little more after the break. However, that did not result in many opportunities. Halfway through the second half, summer signings Mitchell van Bergen and Van Wolfswinkel also made an appearance at Twente, which became impatient. The home team was helped a lot by Noppert, who made a mistake with Vlap’s shot from distance: 1-0. The unfortunate goal gave Heerenveen a big blow and in the final phase the fifth consecutive defeat could no longer be prevented.
| No. | Team | M | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PSV | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 21 |
| 2 | FC Twente | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 18 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 17 |
| 4 | AZ | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 16 |
| 5 | Sparta Rotterdam | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| 6 | Go Ahead Eagles | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 10 |
| 7 | Excelsior | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| 8 | Fortune Sittard | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 9 | Heracles Almelo | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 8 |
| 10 | NEC | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| 11 | PEC Zwolle | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 7 |
| 12 | RKC Waalwijk | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -8 | 6 |
| 13 | sc Heerenveen | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -8 | 6 |
| 14 | Ajax | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 5 |
| 15 | Almere City FC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -12 | 4 |
| 16 | Speed | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -7 | 3 |
| 17 | FC Utrecht | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | -12 | 3 |
| 18 | FC Volendam | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -10 | 1 |