Ajax have sacked interim coach Fred Grim after the club dropped to fourth place with defeat at Groningen, their third match in a row without a win.
Substitute Oskar Zadawa scored twice in the second half for Groningen, following an evenly contested first period in which Thom van Bergen put the home side ahead before Davy Klaassen’s header levelled the scores.
Jordi Cruyff, who took over as director of football five weeks ago, said the club had dismissed Grim, who took over from John Heitinga in November, after deciding that “things have to change”.
“He has stepped in at a difficult time and done everything he can,” Cruyff said in a press release. “We are grateful to him for that.”
Youth team coach Oscar García, 52, will take charge of the first team until the end of the season while Ajax continue to look for a permanent replacement for Heitinga.
Ajax’s defeat allowed Twente Enschede to join the pack of Champions League contenders as they stretched their unbeaten run to 15 games with a 4-1 win at Go Ahead Eagles.
De Busser blunder
Eagles goalkeeper Jari de Busser appeared to be blinded by the sun as he fumbled the ball into his own net after 19 minutes and a defensive error allowed Kristian Hlynsson to score Twente’s third goal from close range five minutes into the second half.
Sam Lammers scored twice, including a late penalty to settle the match after Jakob Breum had briefly given the Deventer club hope of a comeback.
Feyenoord missed the chance to strengthen their hold on second place as relegation-threatened NAC claimed a precious point from an action-packed encounter in Breda.
Feyenoord twice took the lead in the first half through Ayase Ueda and Luciano Valente, but went into the break trailing after Ghanaian international André Ayew headed his first goal for NAC in injury time.
Top scorer Ueda claimed his second with a fine looping header straight after the break, but NAC had the best chance to snatch a winner when Charles-Andrews Brym fired wide.
PSV stretch away
A late goal by Ricardo Pepi allowed leaders PSV to pull 19 points clear of Feyenoord, but they had to do it the hard way after AZ Alkmaar took an early lead with a goal from left-back Billy van Duijl.
PSV’s equaliser was the result of a mix-up between goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro and striker Troy Parrott. The visitors missed several good chances to retake the lead in the second half and paid the price when Pepi stretched to fire in Joey Veerman’s knock-down after 86 minutes.
Telstar bounced back from their midweek defeat by AZ in the cup to notch up their second win in a row in the league at Fortuna Sittard to move within two points of Excelsior.
Telstar got off to a dream start as Fortuna’s goalkeeper Luuk Koopmans punched a corner into the path of Patrick Brouwers, who headed home, before Icelandic striker Nökkvi Thórisson made it two after seven minutes with a perfectly timed run and shot.
Kaj Sierhuis reduced the deficit with an opportunistic tap-in, but Brouwer and Danny Bakker made sure of the points for Telstar in the second half.
Sparta and PEC Zwolle shared the spoils after substitute Milan Zonneveld put the Rotterdammers ahead in the 83rd minute, only for PEC to reply through another replacement, Kaj de Rooij.
Heerenveen’s strong run of form continued with a fourth win in five matches, as goals from Luuk Brouwers and Joris van Overeem were enough to see off struggling Excelsior.
Heracles remain four points adrift at the bottom of the table following a goalless draw against Utrecht, who dropped out of the European play-off places.
Results
Friday
Heracles Almelo 0-0 Utrecht
Saturday
Excelsior 1-2 Heerenveen
Groningen 3-1 Ajax
PSV Eindhoven 2-1 AZ Alkmaar
Sunday
Fortuna Sittard 1-4 Telstar
Go Ahead Eagles 1-4 Twente Enschede
NAC Breda 3-3 Feyenoord
NEC Nijmegen L-L Volendam
Sparta Rotterdam 1-1 PEC Zwolle
