Eredivisie matchday 12: PSV go top as Heerenveen beat Feyenoord 5–3 and Twente hold Ajax

PSV are top of the Eredivisie after a Sunday on which all four leaders played. Feyenoord led 2–0 at Heerenveen and lost 5–3, their first league defeat of the season, Ringo Meerveld scoring three; Twente and Ajax drew 2–2 after Wout Weghorst's penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time; and PSV won 5–2 at Cambuur with a Sven Mijnans hat-trick. PSV have 26 points, one more than Feyenoord and Ajax, with Twente on 24. Matchday 12 brought 42 goals in nine matches: three home wins, three away wins and three draws.

Friday and Saturday

Willem II 1–1 PEC Zwolle was level inside three minutes: Sydney van Hooijdonk scored for PEC Zwolle on 2 and Hidde ter Avest equalised on 3, and there were no more goals. Willem II had five shots on target to PEC's two, and the point was their first since matchday 6.

Fortuna Sittard 2–2 Telstar was settled before half-time. Mohammed Ihattaren converted a penalty for Fortuna Sittard on 15 and Sem Valk's own goal made it 2–0 on 43, but Telstar scored twice at the end of the half: Abdelnour Soualhia on 45 from Patrick Brouwer's pass, and Brouwer himself on 45+2. Telstar had eight shots on target to Fortuna's four.

ADO Den Haag 3–1 Sparta Rotterdam gave ADO Den Haag their second win of the season. Juho Kilo scored on 22 from Jalen Hawkins's pass; Bas Kuipers equalised for Sparta Rotterdam on 50 from Milan Zonneveld's, before Nigel Thomas on 57 and Daryl van Mieghem on 79, from Cameron Peupion's pass, won it. ADO had seven shots on target, Sparta six.

Excelsior 0–1 GO Ahead Eagles was decided on 72 by Søren Tengstedt, from Mathis Suray's pass for his ninth league goal. Excelsior had 14 shots, two on target, and seven corners to none; it was their fifth league defeat in a row. GO Ahead Eagles had six shots.

Sunday

Heerenveen 5–3 Feyenoord turned in the second half. Anis Hadj Moussa scored on 25 from Nacho Ferri's pass and Ferri converted a penalty on 31, but Maas Willemsen pulled one back on 45+3 and Levi Smans, from Marcus Linday's pass, equalised on 47. Meerveld put Heerenveen ahead on 61; Sem Steijn, from Ferri, made it 3–3 on 69, before Meerveld scored again on 84 from Jacob Trenskow's pass and on 90+3 from Luca Oyen's. Heerenveen had 17 shots, eight on target, to Feyenoord's nine and three. It was their fourth league win in a row, and, NOS reports, their fifth win in a row counting the cup, while Feyenoord have gone five matches in all competitions without a win. Meerveld came on at half-time, Voetbal International reports; "every ball I shot on goal went in", he said. Giovanni van Bronckhorst said losing by this margin hits hard, but that everything is still close together.

Twente 2–2 Ajax looked won by Ajax. Tolu Arokodare scored on 3 and Rayane Bounida on 66, both from Oscar Gloukh's passes; Dies Janse's own goal on 68 brought Twente back, and Weghorst converted the penalty on 90+5, which was confirmed after a VAR check; an Ajax penalty had been cancelled after a VAR review on 75. Twente had 22 shots and nine corners; Ajax had six shots, two on target. According to NOS, the late equaliser stopped Ajax going top for the first time since May 2025. The referee, Joey Kooij, told ESPN he should have waited "two or three seconds longer" before stopping a Twente attack for a VAR check, Voetbal International reports.

Cambuur 2–5 PSV was 3–0 after 19 minutes. Mijnans scored on 1 from Esmir Bajraktarević's pass and on 15 from Ruben van Bommel's, and Van Bommel, from Bajraktarević, made it three on 19. Nicky Souren pulled one back on 41 and Iwan Henstra, from Rafik El Arguioui's pass, a second on 78, but Mijnans completed his hat-trick on 80 and Ayoni Santos, from Kodai Sano's pass, scored on 90+2. PSV had 62 per cent of the ball and seven shots on target, and played without Ivan Perišić, who was not fit, NOS reports. It was Mijnans's second hat-trick of the season, after one against Sparta, Voetbal International notes.

AZ 4–3 Groningen came back from 3–1 down. Jacob Ondrejka scored for Groningen on 2; Mexx Meerdink equalised on 9 from Ro Zangelo Daal's pass, but Brynjólfur Darri Willumsson, from Ondrejka, scored on 47 and Thom van Bergen on 54. Meerdink missed a penalty on 59, then set up Ayoub Oufkir on 61; Mateo Chávez equalised on 76, and Meerdink converted a second penalty on 90+1. The Groningen goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen was sent off on 88 and Hans Hateboer, for handball, on 90+10. AZ had 19 shots and an xG of 3.96.

Utrecht 2–3 NEC closed the round. Kevin Kers scored for NEC on 34 from Mitchel Bakker's pass and Dušan Tadić on 38 from Deveron Fonville's; Yoann Cathline, from Ángel Alarcón, pulled one back on 56, Tadić scored again on 58, and Dani de Wit, from Nordin Amrabat's pass, made it 3–2 on 64. NEC had seven shots on target, Utrecht five.

The table after matchday 12

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	PSV Eindhoven	12	8	2	2	+25	26
2	Feyenoord	12	7	4	1	+19	25
3	Ajax	12	7	4	1	+17	25
4	Twente	12	7	3	2	+18	24
5	AZ Alkmaar	12	7	2	3	+8	23
6	Heerenveen	12	6	3	3	+8	21
7	Fortuna Sittard	12	5	5	2	0	20
8	GO Ahead Eagles	12	4	5	3	−3	17
9	Groningen	12	4	3	5	+1	15
10	Cambuur	12	4	3	5	−2	15
11	NEC Nijmegen	12	3	5	4	−1	14
12	Sparta Rotterdam	12	3	3	6	−8	12
13	PEC Zwolle	12	3	3	6	−11	12
14	Utrecht	12	3	3	6	−13	12
15	Excelsior	12	3	2	7	−13	11
16	Telstar	12	2	4	6	−7	10
17	ADO Den Haag	12	2	3	7	−9	9
18	Willem II	12	0	3	9	−29	3

PSV lead on 26, a point ahead of Feyenoord and Ajax, who are separated by goal difference, +19 to +17, with Twente a point further back and AZ three behind on 23. The points race shows PSV's climb: third and two behind Feyenoord a week ago, they took three points while the other three took two between them. At the bottom, Willem II are still without a win, six points behind ADO Den Haag.

Numbers to know

• PSV have scored 40 goals, the most; Twente have conceded twelve, the fewest.
• Feyenoord conceded five at Heerenveen; they had conceded twelve in their first eleven matches.
• Twente had 22 shots against Ajax, who had six.
• Two hat-tricks, by Meerveld and Mijnans; five penalties, four of them scored.
• Willem II have three points from twelve matches and have conceded 40.

Next up

After the international break, matchday 13 opens on Saturday 21 November with NEC v PSV at 15:30 UTC; Feyenoord v Excelsior and Utrecht v Cambuur follow at 17:45 UTC, and Groningen v Heerenveen and Telstar v PEC Zwolle at 20:00 UTC. On Sunday 22 November, Twente v Willem II kicks off at 11:15 UTC, Ajax v ADO Den Haag and Sparta Rotterdam v AZ at 13:30 UTC, and GO Ahead Eagles v Fortuna Sittard closes the round at 15:45 UTC. The full round is on the Eredivisie page.

Sources for the context: NOS, NOS, NOS, NOS, Voetbal International, Voetbal International, Voetbal International.