Ajax starts title defense with big win

Miralem Sulejmani scored twice as Ajax began the defence of their Eredivisie crown with an impressive 4-1 win at De Graafschap.

Frank De Boer's side had to come from behind after Ted Van De Pavert's early opener but Sulejmani scored either side of Derk Boerrigter's goal and Theo Janssen rounded off the win with a fourth.

Elsewhere, Jozy Altidore scored on his Eredivisie debut as as AZ Alkmaar opened their campaign with an impressive 3-1 win at home to PSV Eindhoven.

The United States striker, signed from Villarreal in the summer, came off the bench to seal the victory in the 80th minute.

Goals from Maarten Martens and Nick Viergever had put AZ two up, but Dries Mertens pulled one back on the stroke of half-time. Altidore came on in the 65th minute to restore the hosts' two-goal cushion and even though they had Niklas Moisander sent off late on PSV never looked like coming back into it.

Marc Janko's first-half penalty was the difference between the sides as FC Twente got their Eredivisie campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 victory at NAC Breda.

The Austria striker slotted home in the 29th minute at the Rat Verlegh Stadion after Peter Wisgerhof had been fouled by Jordy Buijs.

The win continued a fine start to new Twente coach Co Adriaanse's reign after his side edged Ajax 2-1 last weekend in the Johan Cruyff Shield - with Janko again on target from the spot.

ADO Den Haag and Vitesse Arnhem played out a drab opening-weekend encounter in the Eredivisie, with neither side able to break the deadlock.

There were chances at the Kyocera Stadion, but whether it was early-season rustiness or a sign of things to come, there was little quality on offer.

On Saturday, Roda JC came from behind to claim a home win over FC Groningen in their opening match of the season.

The Kerkrade club trailed to a Leandro Bacuna penalty, as Groningen tried to banish thoughts of their shoot-out defeat to ADO Den Haag in a Europa League play-off at the end of last season. Ruud Vormer was sent off for a professional foul in giving away the penalty.

However, Roda roared back thanks to Mark-Jan Fledderus' free-kick 14 minutes from time and Sanharib Malki earned them all three points when he slotted home from Mads Junker's pass two minutes from time.

NEC Nijmegen scored twice in the final seven minutes to grab a 2-2 draw away to 10-man Heerenveen.

Heerenveen had looked on course for a comfortable opening-day win when Luciano Narsingh's 70th-minute strike, after Oussama Assaidi's opener, fired them 2-0 ahead.

But the hosts threw away victory in a breathless end to the match.

Bram Nuytinck pulled a goal back on 83 minutes and, after Viktor Elm was shown a straight red card for a horror tackle, Stef Nijland stole a share of the points in the closing stages.

Newly-promoted RKC Waalwijk staged an even later recovery, striking twice in the final five minutes to seal a 2-2 draw at home to Heracles Almelo.

Heracles led through Everton in the 32nd minute and the three points looked all-but certain when Glynor Plet's deflected strike found the net 10 minutes from time.

However, RKC were given a chance to get back into the game when Antoine van der Linden tripped Ricky ten Voorde in the box, conceding a penalty which Robert Braber converted.

Van der Linden was sent off for the foul, and the 10 men of Heracles could not hold on as Ten Voorde levelled at the death.

VVV Venlo and FC Utrecht played out a goalless draw in the day's late kick-off. The home side finished the game with 10 men as substitute Rogier Molhoek was sent off with 10 minutes to go.

On Friday night, Guyon Fernandez marked his Feyenoord debut with a goal to pave the way for a 2-0 victory over his former club Excelsior.

Fernandez made the move across Rotterdam in the summer and his impact was immediate as he fired in the game's opener after 56 minutes.

A Leen van Steensel own goal followed on 71 minutes to seal a derby win for Ronald Koeman in his first competitive game as Feyenoord boss.