THE HAGUE, May 1 -- The Dutch title race will be decided on the final match day. On Sunday league leaders FC Twente beat Willem II 4-0, while the other contenders Ajax defeated sc Heerenveen 2-1.
PSV beat Vitesse 2-1, but lost their chance to be champions due to the victories of their rivals. Twente will meet Ajax in Amsterdam in the final round on May 15 and both teams play the Cup final one week earlier.
Reigning champions FC Twente were dedicated to get a victory against bottom side Willem II and got their liberating first goal in the 39th minute. Bryan Ruiz, who hit the post a few minutes earlier, set up the Luuk de Jong goal. After halftime a strike by defender Douglas, an own goal by Dragan Jelic and a penalty by Theo Janssen gave Twente the win.
Twente coach Michel Preud homme was looking forward to both finals. "We will do everything we can to win," he declared during the post match press conference. "At first we want to concentrate fully on the Cup final. Both prices are important for FC Twente."
The defeat meant Willem II were relegated to the Dutch second division, because their rivals VVV-Venlo beat Feyenoord 3-2 on Sunday. The Tilburg side has been playing in the Eredivisie since the 1987/1988 season.
Meanwhile in Heerenveen, Ajax came back quickly from a 1-0 deficit. Mika Vayrynen opened the scoring in the 20th minute for the home team, but Miralem Sulejmani equalized immediately after that. Young Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen handed Ajax the victory just after halftime.
Ajax coach Frank de Boer said his team was a little Lucky. "It could have been 6-6," De Boer declared. "They had the best opportunities in the first half and were a little bit more aggressive. We were better in the second half. Obviously we would rather win the second game. But that does not mean that we do not take the Cup seriously. It also is a price."
In Eindhoven PSV beat Vitesse 2-1 thanks to Marcus Berg and Marcelo goals. Jordi Lopez scored for Vitesse. Heracles Almelo defeated NAC 2-1 in Breda, NEC crushed Roda JC Kerkrade 5-0, AZ had an easy afternoon against De Graafschap with 5-1, ADO Den Haag lost 2-4 at home to FC Groningen and Excelsior beat FC Utrecht 3-1.
FC Twente are leading the standing with 71 points, one point ahead of Ajax and three ahead of PSV. PSV can still finish second, which will earn them a place in next season's Champions League qualifying. The third and fourth positions entitle playing in the Europa League with AZ looking comfortable on the fourth place. The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth placed teams, currently FC Groningen, Roda JC Kerkrade, ADO Den Haag and Heracles Almelo respectively, will qualify for the European play-offs.