FC Utrecht has given sc Heerenveen its seventh league defeat in a row. The team of trainer René Hake won 1-2 when Henk Veerman met his old club again and is now seventh in the Eredivisie. Heerenveen occupies thirteenth place in the ranking, with a six point lead over number sixteen Fortuna Sittard.
Prior to the meeting between Heerenveen and Utrecht, all eyes were on Veerman. The striker who exchanged Friesland for the Domstad in January got the first chance after fifteen minutes of play. His shot from the turn ended up in the hands of goalkeeper Erwin Mulder. Shortly afterwards, Veerman showed himself again in the penalty area, when his header only just flew over Mulder’s goal. The Heerenveen goalkeeper had to save the day just before half time: with his fingertips he barely worked a header from Sander van Streek over the bar.
Heerenveen did not offer too many opportunities in the first half. Nicolas Madsen and Tibor Halilovic fired on Fabian de Keijzer’s goal, but did not force the Utrecht goalkeeper into action. The first big chance of the second half was for the home team. Amin Sarr appeared in front of De Keijzer, but saw his effort turned. Shortly afterwards, the match in the Abe Lenstra Stadium was broken up.
Bart Ramselaar received the ball in the penalty area, after which Mulder decided to get out of his goal. Ramselaar took advantage of that, perhaps somewhat surprisingly by placing the ball in the goal from a difficult angle past Mulder. Utrecht seemed to decide the game ten minutes later, when Mike van der Hoorn headed a corner from Adam Maher against the ropes. With ten minutes left on the clock, Heerenveen was helped back into the game.
Referee Serdar Gözübüyük decided to put the ball on the spot, after a handball by Van der Hoorn. Sydney van Hooijdonk signed for his first goal for Heerenveen from eleven meters. Shortly afterwards, the Frisians thought they were entitled to another penalty, but Gözübüyük was of the opinion that Django Warmerdam did not make punishable hands within the sixteen-meter area. Veerman was taken to the side shortly before the end, accompanied by a flute concert. Without the striker on the field, there was no change in the 1-2 score.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | † | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 24 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 64 | 57 |
| 2 | PSV | 24 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 29 | 55 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 24 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 34 | 51 |
| 4 | AZ | 24 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 48 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 24 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 45 |
| 6 | Vitesse | 24 | 12 | 4 | 8 | -6 | 40 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 39 |
| 8 | SC Cambuur | 24 | 10 | 3 | 11 | -10 | 33 |
| 9 | NEC | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | -7 | 31 |
| 10 | Fc Groningen | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | -5 | 29 |
| 11 | Heracles Almelo | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | -6 | 26 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | -15 | 26 |
| 13 | sc Heerenveen | 24 | 7 | 4 | 13 | -14 | 25 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | -13 | 23 |
| 15 | William II | 24 | 6 | 3 | 15 | -22 | 21 |
| 16 | Fortuna Sittard | 23 | 5 | 4 | 14 | -27 | 19 |
| 17 | Sparta Rotterdam | 23 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -19 | 17 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | -21 | 17 |