Ajax moves closer to Dutch title

 　　THE HAGUE, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Ajax enlarged the margin¹ with the other title contenders in the Dutch Eredivisie to six points by beating De Graafschap 3-1 on Sunday in Amsterdam.

　　Derk Boerrigter scored two goals, Christian² Eriksen added one and Michael de Leeuw produced the consolation³ goal of the visitors. After half-time both teams were not able to find the net.

　　On Saturday Ajax's closest rival AZ Alkmaar lost 3-2 at PSV Eindhoven. Jeremain Lens gave the home team the lead, but Jozy Altidore and Roy Beerens handed AZ a 2-1 lead at half-time.

　　Lens equalized after a cross by substitute Memphis Depay in the 77th minute and another substitute, Tim Matavz, earned PSV the win in injury time.

　　Last Wednesday AZ already squandered⁴ a 2-1 lead in the final minutes against FC Twente (2-2).

　　"We should have had six points out of the last two matches," AZ coach Gertjan Verbeek said. "But I still believe in the title. As I always said, as long as you don't need four points in the final match it's possible."

　　Also on Saturday FC Twente dropped points in the final minutes of the home game against NAC Breda: 2-2. Alex Schalk gave the visitors the lead, but Twente bounced back thanks to two goals by Luuk de Jong. Nourdin Boukhari equalized for NAC three minutes in injury-time.

　　Feyenoord and sc Heerenveen profited from the losses of their rivals, with Feyenoord beating Excelsior 3-0 and Heerenveen defeating NEC 4-2 in Nijmegen.

　　The battle for the second place, which guarantees a place in the preliminary round of the Champions League next season, is still tight. AZ remains⁵ on second place, but Feyenoord is on the same amount of 58 points now. FC Twente, PSV and sc Heerenveen are all on 57 points.

1 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

4 squandered   

v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He squandered all his money on gambling. 他把自己所有的钱都糟蹋在赌博上了。
• She felt as indignant as if her own money had been squandered. 她心里十分生气，好像是她自己的钱给浪费掉了似的。 来自飘（部分）

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。