FC Twente continued their march towards the title, while AZ Alkmaar extended their good run of form.
Twente march on as AZ beat Heracles
FC Twente continued their march towards the title, while AZ Alkmaar extended their good run of form.
Steve McClaren's
FC Twente, who have only suffered one defeat all season, moved seven points clear of nearest rivals Ajax by beating
Sparta Rotterdam 3-0 at home.
It looked like being a frustrating evening for Twente as Sparta kept it goalless until half-time, but Bryan Ruiz produced a dazzling performance after the break to score a hat-trick.
The Costa Rican forward opened the scoring seconds after the restart and quickly made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after Milano Koenders had been sent off for Sparta.
Ruiz then netted his third goal in the space of five minutes to inflict a fourth straight defeat on the visitors.
Reigning Eredivisie champions
AZ Alkmaar had a hat-trick of their own to celebrate as Jeremain Lens inspired them to a 3-2 victory over
Heracles Almelo.
Lens fired in his first after 40 minutes and then added another midway through the second half.
Goals from Darl Douglas and Samuel Armenteros brought Heracles back level with just 11 minutes remaining, but Lens struck again to stretch AZ's unbeaten run to nine games.
Roda JC got the better of mid-table rivals
Heerenveen, with the damage done in the first half as they ran out 4-2 winners.
Mads Junker bagged a brace for Roda, while Marcel de Jong and Boliszar Bodor also found the target before the interval.
Heerenveen, already down to ten men following the early dismissal of Oussama Assaidi, staged a brave fightback in the second period with goals from Michel Breuer and Mika Vayrynen.
Vitesse Arnhem claimed their first victory in nine attempts as they came from behind to see off
Willem II 2-1.
Said Boutahar had broken the deadlock after 28 minutes but Serginho Greene equalised before half-time and Santi Kolk sealed all three points late on.
