Groningen went ahead after 17 minutes via the direct route, as Etienne Vaessen?s goal kick was flicked on by Tyrique Mercera and Younes Taha nipped in front of Armando Obispo before putting a curling shot past Niek Schiks.

The home sided had several chances to extend their lead, notably when Taha was put clear shortly before half-time, but PSV?s third-choice goalkeeper proved equal to them on his debut.

Ismael Saibari headed the equaliser after 65 minutes and PSV took control thereafter, with substitute Denis Man notching the winner when he was left unmarked at a corner.

Feyenoord held on to second place as they followed up their 3-0 thrashing by PSV with a narrow 1-0 win at Utrecht, with Oussama Targhalline starting and finishing a move through the centre for the only goal after 10 minutes.

Coach Robin van Persie, who faced “RvP out” banners from fans in the stadium, said the result was “welcome in many ways after PSV away, where we were mediocre and deserved to lose.”

Utrecht slipped to 13th place after their worst sequence of results for 30 years, with just one win in their last 16 matches, against lower league side TOP Oss in the cup.

NEC stay third, but only after surviving a scare against struggling Heracles. Bryan Linssen gave NEC an early lead, but the lively Lequincio Zeefuik equalised six minutes later and then twice struck the inside of the post in the first half as NEC?s defence was exposed.

Tjaronn Chery restored the lead for NEC shortly before half-time when his shot struck the post and went in. The Nijmegen side took control after the break as Basar Önal scored from the penalty spot before Noé Lebreton headed a fourth in the closing minutes.

Ajax stay fourth after they needed an injury-time equaliser by Kian Fitz-Jim to avoid yet another defeat by AZ, who last lost to the Amsterdammers in the league more than five years ago.

Wouter Goes tapped in for AZ early in the second half after Vitezslav Jaros was unable to hold a shot by Mateo Chávez.

Troy Parrott looked to have headed in a second after 72 minutes, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside in the build-up. But as the clock ticked down Fitz-Jim crashed in header from close range to claim a point.

Go Ahead Eagles were looking for revenge against their cup conquerors Telstar to ease their relegation worries. But despite taking an 85th-minute lead when new €3 million signing Stéfan Ingi Sigurdarson struck from close range, the Deventer side were pegged back deep into injury time when Jeff Hardeveld found the net in a chaotic goalmouth scramble.

That result lifted Telstar to 16th place ahead of Heracles and NAC, who were reduced to 10 men after just 12 minutes of their match against Excelsior when Rio Hillen was dismissed for clattering into Noah Naujoks

Excelsior had the match wrapped up in the first-half hour with a neatly worked goal finished by Emil Hansson and an acrobatic overhead kick from Irakli Yegoian.

Twente have been struggling for goals this season, but found their shooting boots as they put five past Heerenveen, with the Rots brothers Mats and Daan both on the scoresheet.

Ramiz Zerrouki started the party in the 18th minute with a spectacular looping shot that broke the resistance of Bernt Klaverboer in the Heerenveen goal.

An injury-time goal by Brandley Kumas earned Volendam their first away win of the season at PEC Zwolle. PEC?s 16-year-old midfielder Jadiel Pereira da Gama had the ball in the net after 55 minutes, but was denied a place in the record books as the league?s youngest scorer by a marginal, but correct, offside decision.

There was more late drama in Sittard, where Yassin Oukili scored a 90th-minute goal on his debut for Fortuna to give them a 2-1 lead, only for another debutant, Casper Terho to snatch an equaliser for Sparta six minutes into injury time.

NAC Breda 0-2 Excelsior

Fortuna Sittard 2-2 Sparta Rotterdam

NEC Nijmegen 4-1 Heracles Almelo

PEC Zwolle 1-2 Volendam

Twente Enschede 5-0 Heerenveen

Go Ahead Eagles 1-1 Telstar

Groningen 1-2 PSV Eindhoven

Utrecht 0-1 Feyenoord

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