AZ topple record champions
One season after their nightmare elimination at the hands of amateur club USV Hercules, Ajax have been eliminated from KNVB Cup contention once again after an uninspired 2-0 defeat at AZ.
During a fruitless first half in which Ajax only managed to force AZ goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro to make one save, AZ took the lead ten minutes before half-time thanks to a Wouter Goes header.
Ajax appealed to the referee after an alleged push from defender Alexandre Penetra, but their efforts led to nothing.
Ajax couldn't manage to improve after the break and saw AZ create the biggest chances again. AZ, who beat Ajax 2-1 in the Eredivisie in December, took a sigh of relief after former Chelsea winger Bertrand Traore hit the post after 71 minutes of playing.
The home side managed to double their lead eventually with Mexx Meerdink finishing a nifty chip in the 89th minute. It was the second big goal in four days for Meerdink after his crucial goal in the away game at PSV.
Ajax have a lot of work to do after their second consecutive early exit from the KNVB Cup and will look to quickly improve with two European fixtures coming up after Sunday's game at sc Heerenveen.
PSV survive huge scare
Eleven-time winners PSV had to come back from a very surprising 1-3 deficit and won a nine-goal thriller 5-4 to advance to the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup after second-division side Excelsior shocked the home crowd.
Belgian winger Johan Bakayoko thought he'd got his side going with a goal after 29 minutes, but the goal was denied after the attacker was deemed to be offside.
Instead, it was Excelsior who took the lead with Noah Naujoks opening the score three minutes into injury time. The 22-year-old midfielder repeated this trick less than fifteen minutes after the break, scoring his second headed goal of the game with Lance Duijvestijn providing the assist.
American Malik Tillman brought PSV back to within one goal but saw Duijvestijn extend the lead to two again with ten minutes remaining.
A defensive miscue gave American international Ricardo Pepi the opportunity to make it 2-3 with four minutes remaining after the Excelsior defence left the prolific striker wide open.
PSV rewarded themselves for their relentless pressure in the closing stages with Ismael Saibari scoring the equaliser in the 97th minute after being left wide open in the box. Excelsior were forced into 30 more minutes of cup football in the home of the league champions.
A beautifully set-up goal saw Pepi secure PSV's first lead of the game in the 101st minute after Saibari found the American with a perfect through ball. Former World Cup finalist Ivan Perisic secured PSV's win in the 110th minute after a quick combination with striker Luuk de Jong, who finished his night with three assists to his name.
Excelsior got one back through a Richie Omorowa goal in the 117th minute but had to settle for a loss in a 9-goal cup thriller.
Quick Boys keep their dreams alive
Amateur side Quick Boys beat Robin van Persie's Heerenveen 3-2 in order to become the first amateur side in KNVB Cup history to beat three Eredivisie clubs in the same campaign.
After a thunderous start with a big fireworks show, the game got underway in foggy conditions under the floodlights of a packed Sportpark Nieuw-Zuid.
Heerenveen were unable to play their way through the amateur side's defence and couldn't manage to fire a single shot at Lars Jansen's goal. The 26-year-old goalkeeper - usually the back-up to Paul van der Helm - saw his trusted centre-back Neville Ogidi Nwankwo open the scoring 37 minutes in with a smart header from a Jesse Reinders corner.
Heerenveen came out of the break with a plan and fired in the equaliser with their first shot on target: Feyenoord loanee Ilias Sebaoui beat Jansen with a curled-in attempt from distance to make it 1-1 after 48 minutes.
But it was the home side, who play their games in the Dutch third division, who kept up with Heerenveen's pace and managed to make the life of the Eredivisie side difficult.
But despite everything, Heerenveen managed to grab the lead thanks to two substitutes: Moldovan striker Ion Nicolaescu beat Jansen with a nifty finish after a cross from the recently naturalised Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
A moment of great confusion followed soon as Van Persie took off goalkeeper Mickey van der Hart for former World Cup starter Andries Noppert, who reportedly is on his way to Argentinian side San Lorenzo.
Noppert, the starting goalkeeper for the Netherlands during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, quickly stole the headlines by causing a penalty after taking down Lukas Hamann in the far corner of his penalty box. Striker Milan Zonneveld, Quick Boys' hero in the previous cup game against Fortuna Sittard, converted the penalty and put the 2-2 on the board in the 88th minute.
Extra time ensued and it was the home team which took the lead yet again with substitute Levi van Duijn catching Noppert off-guard and heading the ball past the rushing goalkeeper.
A comeback wasn't to be for Heerenveen, who became the third Eredivisie side to get knocked out of the KNVB Cup in Katwijk aan Zee this year. Quick Boys continue their fairytale run and will find out who their next opponent will be after Friday's quarter-final draw.
Go Ahead Eagles fight on
Go Ahead Eagles have kept their cup dreams alive with an entertaining 3-1 win over Europa League outfit FC Twente.
Twente took the lead in the first half with Eredivisie top goalscorer Sem Steijn scoring his fourth goal in two games but saw Go Ahead Eagles equalise 15 minutes after the break with Norwegian star Oliver Edvardsen helping his side back in the game.
Go Ahead Eagles captain Mats Deijl handed his team the lead just five minutes before full-time, after which midfielder Mathis Suray finished the job with the 3-1 in the 94th minute.
Go Ahead Eagles, currently, the seventh-placed team in the Eredivisie, qualified for their second KNVB Cup quarter-final since 1985.
Other results
Elsewhere, amateur side VV Noordwijk beat fellow amateur club BVV Barendrecht 1-0 after extra time thanks to an Arantis Roep goal in the 101st minute.
Chaos nearly ensued deep in injury time when Noordwijk attempted to sub on Jerrel Hak when the attacker was ineligible to play. Before play had restarted, however, Noordwijk found out about the mistake and retracted the substitute, keeping the club from any controversy.
14-time winners Feyenoord beat amateurs Rijnsburgse Boys 1-4 after quickly scoring two goals in the opening seven minutes. Santiago Gimenez and Givairo Read, who scored his first goal for the club, seemingly ended Rijnsburg's hopes and dreams in quick succession, avoiding getting eliminated by the hands of an amateur fairytale.
Gimenez added a second after 40 minutes, but saw Ilias Kariouh score Rijnsburgse Boys' first goal of the game with a smart finish. Ibrahim Osman scored Feyenoord's fourth and final goal in the 93rd minute.
Last-placed RKC Waalwijk got knocked out by FC Utrecht after a 2-1 loss and a Sebastien Haller double. RKC hoped to get things going after Richonell Margaret fired them to a 1-0 lead over Eredivisie hopefuls FC Utrecht, but got met with two goals from Sebastien Haller who scored his first goals since coming back to the club.
De Graafschap became the last second-division side to get eliminated in the Dutch up after Heracles Almelo beat the Superboeren 2-0 thanks to goals from Thomas Bruns and Suf Podgoreano, who scored less than a minute after coming on.
The draw for the KNVB Cup quarter-finals will take place Friday, January 17th at 17.30 CET.