Feyenoord and Ajax draw in Dutch Classic to fall further behind

 Feyenoord and Ajax draw in Dutch Classic to fall further behind

THE HAGUE, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- In the most traditional match of Dutch football Feyenoord and Ajax drew 2-2 on Sunday in Rotterdam as league leader FC Twente and PSV moved further away.

After Ajax' 3-1 win over Manchester City in the Champions League Ajax coach Frank de Boer saw no reason to change his line-up in the Eredivisie clash. His counterpart Ronald Koeman did make changes, with captain Stefan de Vrij returning from injury in the center of defense¹ and 18-year-old forward Jean-Paul Boetius making his debut².

Eriksen opened the scoring in the 12th minute after a Ryan Babel pass, but debutant Boetius equalized by finishing a Wesley Verhoek cross in the 23rd minute. Feyenoord took control after the equalizer, but failed to produce a second goal.

Three minutes into the second half, Ajax did find the net via Siem de Jong. The match changed with 15 minutes remaining when Ajax defender³ Niklas Moisander received his second yellow card and was sent off. The final offensive of Feyenoord led to the 2-2 in the 90th minute. Graziano Pelle scored and caused the 20th draw in 58 editions of the 'Klassieker' in Rotterdam. Ajax won 19 times, Feyenoord 18 times.

"If there was one team that deserved the win it was us," Feyenoord coach Koeman declared afterwards.

"We lost the ball a few times unnecessarily, which brought Feyenoord back into the match," Ajax coach De Boer said. "We were fine before the 1-1."

League leaders FC Twente beat RKC Waalwijk 1-0 on Sunday in Waalwijk. Serbian striker Dusan Tadic became matchwinner.

At PEC Zwolle PSV Eindhoven booked a narrow 2-1 win. Joey van den⁴ Berg gave the home team the lead in the first half, but through Timothy Derijck (75') and an own goal by Van den Berg (79') PSV grabbed the three points.

Vitesse led its first defeat of the season at home against AZ Alkmaar 1-2.

Also on Sunday Marco van Basten's sc Heerenveen lost spectacularly at Heracles Almelo 6-3.

FC Twente now lead the Eredivisie with 25 points out of 10 matches, one ahead of PSV. Vitesse trail by four points and Ajax, Feyenoord and FC Utrecht, which beat FC Groningen 1-0 on Friday, by seven already.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

3 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

4 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。