De Friezen win fourth straight

De Friezen maintained pressure on the top of the table with an 5-1 victory over Sparta. While the score line suggests the Rotterdam side was overwhelmed, that would be misleading as all but one of the goals came in the final twenty minutes.

Danijel Pranjić gave Heerenveen the lead five minutes before the half hour as converted from the spot after Ruud Knol was adjudged to holding Viktor Elm's shirt in the area. After giving up the goal, the match went from bad to worse for the visitors as they were down a man just past the half hour when Kim Jaggy was excused with his second yellow. After withstanding constant pressure Sparta was down by two as Michel Breuer cross was closed-out by Patrik Ingelsten with seventeen minutes remaining. Any chance of getting back in the match was gone as two minutes later Ruud Knol was sent off with his second yellow of the day for bringing down Patrik Ingelsten in the area. With the spot pointed to Roy Beerens converted and their was little doubt ]]with the outcome of the match. Edouard Duplan brought a goal back for Sparta with four minutes remaining but de Friezen padded their states late with Michal Svec headed-in Danijel Pranjić cross with a minute remaining. In a final point of the match Bonaventure Kalou opportunistically took advantage of a defending error to make it 5-1.

The victory provides Trond Sollied's side their fourth successive win and with late encounters against Twente and AZ, the chance to win a Champions League spot is still very much alive.