Amsterdam, Feb 8 (IANS): Ajax beat Feyenoord 2-1 here in the most classic match of Dutch football while league leaders PSV took revenge on FC Utrecht.
From the start of the Dutch classic between the arch-rivals from Amsterdam and Rotterdam on Sunday, both teams fought for victory which led to an attractive encounter. Feyenoord opened the scoring (13th minute) after Jens Toornstra's shot from outside the penalty-box went into the corner of the goal.
Ajax bounced back though Amin Younes. The German winger received a pass from Ajax captain Davy Klaassen, went past Toornstra and Botteghin from the backline and scored. The second half was less entertaining but Riechedly Bazoer's goal was of high quality. The midfielder smashed home the winning goal (65th).
Three minutes after Bazoer's goal Ajax also received a penalty after Feyenoord goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer brought down Klaassen. Nemanja Gudelj wasted the opportunity. His shot went over the cross-bar. Due to the miss, Feyenoord could maintain hope but the visitors hardly created chances and the match ended in a home win.
The 60th Eredivisie edition of the Dutch classic was disfigured by an Ajax fan who dropped a dummy from his stand with a jersey of Feyenoord goalkeeper Vermeer with a rope around the neck. The person who did it was quickly banned from the stadium and will be prosecuted. Vermeer played for Ajax until mid-2014 and received a hostile reaction by part of the home fans.
Afterwards Vermeer filed a police declaration against the perpetrator but said he wasn't surprised by the events. The incident was already the third negative case in 2016 in Dutch football after racist chants towards Ajax's Bazoer at ADO Den Haag and death threats by Feyenoord fans towards their own player Marko Vejinovic.
Feyenoord suffered their sixth consecutive league defeat while Ajax stayed in the title race.
Also, league leaders PSV took revenge for the 3-1 Cup defeat of last Thursday. The reigning champions beat FC Utrecht 2-0 in Utrecht this time. Santiago Arias and Marco van Ginkel, who came over on loan from Chelsea in the January transfer window, scored.
PSV lead the table with 53 points from 22 matches, one point more than Ajax.