Feyenoord stays third in Dutch league after 0-0 draw at VVV

Feyenoord stayed third in the Dutch league after drawing 0-0 at VVV-Venlo on Sunday.

The draw left the Rotterdam side two points behind first-place Ajax, which beat Willem II Tilburg 3-2 on Saturday.

Defending champion PSV Eindhoven dropped to second place after its second defeat of the season, losing Friday to Roda JC 4-2.

Ajax, which hosts PSV in the next round, has 31 points. PSV has 30, one more than Feyenoord.

Also Sunday, United States midfielder Michael Bradley scored three goals for SC Heerenveen in its 4-2 win over FC Groningen.

Goran Lovre scored an own goal to put Heerenveen into the lead after two minutes before Bradley got his first in the seventh minute.

Erik Nevland leveled for Groningen with two goals inside five minutes but Bradley restored Heerenveen's lead with a close-range strike in the 22nd. He got his hat trick in the 40th.

Sebastien Pocognoli and Demy de Zeeuw scored to lead AZ Alkmaar over FC Utrecht 2-1. Sander Keller scored for Utrecht in the 90th.

Also, it was: Excelsior Rotterdam 0, NAC Breda 3; Sparta Rotterdam 1, NEC Nijmegen 0; Heracles Almelo 2, De Graafschap 0; and Vitesse Arnhem 2, FC Twente 2.