Roda beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1

Eindhoven, Netherlands:

Title contenders PSV Eindhoven suffered a setback in their quest to beat Ajax to the Eredivisie title, when they were defeated 2-1 at home by Roda JC Kerkrade. PSV passed up a good opportunity to make up ground on Ajax, who were beaten by Utrecht. Second-placed PSV remain six points adrift of Ajax, while Roda retain their sixth spot in the league. A victory for PSV over Roda JC Kerkrade in Eindhoven would have closed the gap on league leaders Ajax to just three points, but PSV were left to rue a frustrating day. They went behind when referee Dick van Egmond failed to see a hand ball by Roda's Sergio. He was allowed to run free and pass to Arouna Kone, who made no mistake from the edge of the box. The PSV players protested, and the slow-motion replay suggested that they had a strong case for hand ball. Things went from bad to worse for PSV when defender Wilfred Bouma made a terrible error to gift Roda a second goal. His back-pass was intercepted by Cristiano, who rounded PSV goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus to put Roda in control of the match. To their credit, PSV hit back to reduce the deficit. A long ball for Waterreus found big striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, whose flick-on was picked up by Mateja Kezman. Kezman made some ground before crossing for Vennegoor of Hesselink to bravely head in at the far post. 2-1 it stood in favour of Roda, at halftime, and it stayed that way for the remainder of the match. PSV failed to produce an equaliser, and the Roda players were able to celebrate a famous victory. Roda remain sixth in the league, while PSV are still second, six points behind league leaders Ajax. (AP)