FC Twente won an emotional derby against Heracles Almelo, PSV dominated PEC Zwolle, Ajax rescued a late point away at Sparta Rotterdam, and Feyenoord stole a win at the death against FC Utrecht.
But who were the stars who made this and more happen? Let's take a look at the eleven best performers from round 8 of the Dutch Eredivisie, according to Flashscore's ratings system.
GK: Jari De Busser (Go Ahead Eagles) - 8.0
It's not often a goalkeeper earns the week's highest rating despite having an own goal to their name, but Jari De Busser did just that.
The own goal was a matter of bad luck for the Belgian stopper, who had a ball bounce from the post onto his back and into the net. Outside of this moment of misfortune, De Busser played excellently in the Eagles' 1-1 draw against NEC Nijmegen. De Busser recorded seven saves, one of which was an astounding fingertip save on a potential world-class goal from Tjaronn Chery.
DEF: Jerdy Schouten (PSV) - 8.3
When you get moved to the back line and deliver a performance so stable, so reliable, and so flawless, how could you ever be omitted from our Team of the Week?
Manager Peter Bosz plugged PSV captain Jerdy Schouten in at centre-half against PEC Zwolle and delivered a vintage performance with the reigning champions. With Schouten in the heart of the defence, PSV didn't concede a single shot on target for the first time since September 2024 and only conceded an xG of 0.12, the lowest since October 2024.
Schouten himself recorded a staggering 151 touches and lost the ball just six times, completing 123 of 128 passes. The Netherlands international also intercepted the ball five times, won six of his seven duels, and won two tackles - stellar, stellar night for Schouten.
DEF: Max Bruns (FC Twente) - 8.0
FC Twente are three-from-three under new manager John van den Brom, who has massively improved the defence of the Tukkers.
In the derby against Heracles Almelo, Max Bruns scored the crucial equaliser, heading in a corner from Ramiz Zerrouki as Twente rallied to a 2-1 win over their local rivals. In addition to his goal, Bruns completed 55 of 61 pass attempts and cleared the ball seven times.
DEF: Gerrit Nauber (Go Ahead Eagles) - 8.0
Death, taxes, and a Go Ahead Eagles centre-half making our Team of the Week.
After Joris Kramer featured twice in recent weeks, his German colleague, Gerrit Nauber, gets the honours now with a massive 94th-minute equaliser against NEC. Nauber was solid in defence, recording three won duels, one completed tackle, and eight clearances in the 1-1 draw against the high-flying Nijmegen outfit.
MID: Sven Mijnans (AZ) - 8.1
Sven Mijnans was his usual, active self against Telstar and created a stunning six chances against the outfit from Velsen-Zuid. Unfortunately for him, none of his AZ colleagues finished any of them, meaning Mijnans did not post a single goal contribution for only the third time in the last six Eredivisie games.
The creative midfielder completed 23 of 26 passes in the final third, successfully delivered two crosses, and notched two interceptions in his team's 2-1 victory, their first on September 14th.
MID: Joey Veerman (PSV) - 9.5 (Player of the Week)
By this point, we have to ask: who else?
Joey Veerman is pulling the strings at PSV and is playing at his absolute best level in years. The midfielder is found everywhere on the pitch, recording three won duels and one successful tackle on one end, and a goal, assist, and two created big chances on the other.
He only lost possession eleven times on 78 touches and led his team to a flawless 4-0 away win over PEC Zwolle. It's not his first, not even his second, but his third Flashscore Player of the Week award for the young 2025/26 season.
MID: Oscar Gloukh (Ajax) - 8.1
There's not much to gloat about at Ajax, who drew 3-3 away at Sparta Rotterdam, but Oscar Gloukh is undoubtedly one of those things.
After once again being demoted to the bench by manager John Heitinga, Gloukh showed why he should be the first name on the team sheet in his 30 minutes of playing time. Replacing Davy Klaassen, who was invisible against Sparta, Gloukh scored the 97th-minute equaliser, assisted Wout Weghorst's 3-2, and created two chances.
Compare that to Klaassen, who completed 10 passes, 6 of which were in the final third, and recorded just 23 touches; it makes you wonder what could sway Heitinga ever to start Klaassen ahead of Gloukh.
MID: Thomas van den Belt (FC Twente) - 8.1
For the second week running, Thomas van den Belt played a crucial role in a victory for FC Twente, this time by scoring the winning goal in the derby against Heracles Almelo.
Van den Belt fired a low rocket in Fabian de Keijzer's goal, deciding the derby in the 84th minute and capping off a fine display with five won duels, two won tackles, and three created chances.
FW: Dennis Man (PSV) - 8.4
Following an injury to Ruben van Bommel, PSV needed one of their other wingers to step up. Dennis Man followed up on that call.
Man, who joined PSV from Parma last summer, played a massive part in PSV's dominating win over PEC Zwolle by scoring the 2-0, assisting the 3-0, and providing the pre-assist to Ismael Saibari's opener. The Romanian international completed 35 of 40 passes and looks to have locked up his spot in the starting lineup.
FW: Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord) - 8.5
Ayase Ueda can't stop scoring goals in the Eredivisie, and didn't stop against FC Utrecht either.
The Japanese hitman scored a crucial brace in Feyenoord's 3-2 win over FC Utrecht, putting his season total on eight goals in as many games in the Eredivisie. Ueda fired six shots at Utrecht's goal, generating an xG of 1.38 and an xGOT of 2.20. He led all players in touches in the opposition's box (15), conceded fouls (4), and duels, of which he won 12 of 19.
FW: Mexx Meerdink (AZ) - 8.2
During the week of his first senior Netherlands call-up, young Mexx Meerdink made all the difference for AZ in a crucial win. Meerdink was the attacking focal point for AZ with six attempts at goal, one of which ended up being the game-winning goal.
His accumulated xG of 1.44 and near-perfect pasing accuracy in the final third (8/9) made for an excellent week for Meerdink, who'll travel to Zeist on Monday to join Oranje for their World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Finland.