Feyenoord have taken a giant step towards their first Eredivisie title in 18 years after challengers Ajax lost to PSV Eindhoven at the weekend.

The Amsterdammers had cut the gap at the top of the table to a single point going into the weekend, but went down 1-0 in Eindhoven courtesy of a Jürgen Locadia free-kick in the first half.

The result leaves Ajax four points behind Feyenoord, who beat Vitesse Arnhem 2-0 away from home, with just two games of the season left to play. PSV are three points behind Ajax in third place.

Coach Peter Bosz acknowledged that Ajax’s gruelling Europa League tie on Thursday night, when they needed extra time to overcome German side Schalke 04, could have been a factor. ‘I don’t want to use that as an excuse,’ he told NOS. ‘In the first half I don’t think we played well, we defended too deep and were forced back, which meant we had to spend too much time chasing the ball. We played better football in the second half.’

Two first-half goals by Nicolai Jørgensen secured victory in Arnhem for Feyenoord, who won the last of their 14 Eredivisie titles in 1999. ‘We were very sharp, very aggressive, we deserved our 2-0 lead and it might have been more,’ said coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

In other matches, FC Utrecht secured fourth place with a 1-0 win at home over Roda JC, while Go Ahead Eagles remain five points adrift at the bottom. The team from Deventer lost 3-2 at home to Groningen, but still have a slim chance of surviving as nearest rivals NEC and Sparta suffered 1-0 home defeats to Excelsior and ADO Den Haag respectively.