Graziano Pelle netted twice to set Louis van Gaal's team on their way, Moussa Dembele sealing matters with the third six minutes from time.

Second-placed FC Twente host ADO Den Haag tomorrow, while third club Ajax visit FC Utrecht.

Heerenveen leapfrogged PSV Eindhoven into fourth position with a 3-2 win over the champions at the Philips Stadion last night.

Balazs Dzsudzsak and Timmy Simons overturned Paulo Henrique's opener to earn PSV a half-time lead, but Henrique netted a second six minutes into the second period to level for Heerenveen - before Danijel Pranjic converted a stoppage-time penalty to hand the visitors all three points.

Late goals from Rob Penders and Csaba Feher helped NAC Breda move up to seventh with a 3-1 win at home to Sparta Rotterdam tonight.

Nourdin Boukhari had put the home team ahead after 17 minutes only for Ruud Knol to restore parity four minutes later, but NAC took control after the interval.

At the wrong end of the table, Roda JC moved four points clear of second-bottom De Graafschap with a 3-1 victory over their relegation rivals at the Parkstad Limburg Stadion.

Kris de Wree's seventh-minute opener was cancelled out by Ben Sahar a minute after the interval. But Andres Oper and Marcel de Jong bagged further goals in the second half to earn a much-needed three points for Roda coach Harm van Veldhoven.

Finally, Everton hit a quickfire double early in the second half to set Heracles Almelo on the way to a 3-0 triumph at Willem II - with Ricky van den Bergh's last-minute penalty compounding the hosts' misery.