ADO qualify for European play-offs on final matchday

THE Hague, May 6 (Xinhua) -- On the 34th and final regular matchday of the Dutch Eredivisie, ADO Den Haag secured a place in the Europa League play-offs and AZ Alkmaar forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh finished as the league's top scorer.

Most conclusions were already drawn at the highest level in the Netherlands, but ADO Den Haag could still rise one spot to qualify for the Europa League play-offs if they win at Roda JC Kerkrade and PEC Zwolle drop points at AZ Alkmaar.

ADO beat Roda 3-2 thanks to goals by Norwegian striker Bjorn Johnsen and Lex Immers, with Dani Schahin and Simon Gustafson scoring for Roda. At the same time PEC Zwolle, who only picked up 11 points in the second half of the season compared to 33 in the first half, suffered an emphatic 6-0 defeat at AZ.

Jahanbakhsh scored three times for AZ. With his goals he decided the race for the Eredivisie top scorer's title. The Iranian international ends the season with 21 goals, followed by Bjorn Johnsen (19), Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord, 18) and Wout Weghorst (18).

League champions PSV finished the season with a 0-0 home draw against FC Groningen, while Ajax beat Excelsior 2-1 in Rotterdam. Both PSV and Ajax qualified for the Champions League preliminary round, while AZ go to the Europa League preliminary round and Feyenoord go to the Europa League

directly by virtue of winning the Dutch Cup.

Bottom of the table strugglers Roda and Sparta Rotterdam, will continue in the relegation play-offs, while bottom-side FC Twente, who drew 1-1 at home to NAC Breda is already certain of relegation after 34 years at the highest level in Dutch football. Enditem