Parrott hits four in record Eredivisie win for AZ, PSV march on

Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott struck four times as AZ Alkmaar thumped Heerenveen 9-1 to record their biggest ever Eredivisie win.

Parrott bagged his first after 23 minutes, tapping in a cross from Ibrahim Sadiq to put the home side back in front after Luuk Brouwers had cancelled out Sven Mijnans’s early opener for AZ.

The other three came in an eight-minute spell at the start of the first half, capped with a cool turn and shot after 56 minutes. Parrott could have had another when he and Sadiq ran clear through the middle of the Heerenveen defence, but Sadiq opted to claim the sixth goal for himself.

Substitute Zico Buurmeester struck the historic ninth goal in the 85th minute to beat the record set by Louis van Gaal’s team on the opening day of the 2006/7 season against NAC Breda.

Parrott, who joined AZ in the summer from Tottenham Hotspur for €8 million after spending last season on loan at Excelsior, said the match ball would take pride of place in the living room of his new house. “So I can give it a kick now and again,” he told AD.

His shirt will be framed and sent to Dublin as a present for his mother. “She collects my memorabilia,” Parrott said. “Like the rest of the family she’s a huge fan.”

De Jong reaches 180

AZ remain two points behind PSV Eindhoven, who have a 100% record after five matches after a 2-0 win against NEC, the only team to beat them in the league last season.

NEC were reduced to 10 men after only 11 minutes when Kodai Sano hauled down Guus Til in front of goal. Luuk de Jong converted the penalty for his 180th Eredivisie goal, before Til wrapped up the goal with a second five minutes later.

Groningen staged a late comeback against Feyenoord to extend their unbeaten start to the season. Icelandic striker Brynjolfur Willumsson scored in the 81st and 91st minutes after Igor Paixão looked to have made the points safe with a 70th-minute header.

The match between Ajax and Utrecht was postponed because of a police strike, meaning Ajax have played just two league games so far this season, while Utrecht stay third.

Edvardsen sublime

Willem II leapfrogged Feyenoord into fifth place with a resounding win against bottom club RKC, who are still pointless after five games. Ringo Meerveld opened the scoring with the goal of the weekend, slaloming past four defenders before slotting the ball low into the corner.

Go Ahead Eagles striker Victor Edvardsen hit the crossbar with a shot from his own half against Sparta, but made amends in the second half with a sublime chip over Nick Olij to secure a 2-1 win.

A header by substitute Kacper Kostorz in the 85th minute earned NAC their second win of the season against Fortuna Sittard, while Sem Steijn scrambled an equaliser for PEC Zwolle at Twente after Dylan Vente had given the home side an eighth-minute lead.

Heracles went closest to scoring in a goalless draw against Almere City, but Shiloh ‘t Zand’s calm finish was chalked off because Luka Kulenovich collected the ball while coming back from an offside position.