Sven Mijnans scored a hat-trick as PSV Eindhoven won 5-2 away to SC Cambuur on Sunday to replace Feyenoord at the top of the Eredivisie, on a day when the champions knew only a win would do.
PSV arrived in Leeuwarden with the door wide open. Feyenoord had lost their first league game of the season at Heerenveen earlier on Sunday, and Ajax had drawn at Twente, so victory at the Kooi Stadion would lift the reigning champions from third to first going into the international break. They took less than a minute to grab their chance.
Three Goals in 19 Minutes Stun Leeuwarden
Mijnans headed PSV in front after just 46 seconds, meeting a cross from Esmir Bajraktarevic that home goalkeeper Lars Jansen misjudged badly, according to Flashscore's full match report. The midfielder doubled the lead on 15 minutes, set up by Ruben van Bommel, and Van Bommel then finished off another Bajraktarevic run four minutes later to make it 3-0 inside 19 minutes, as the match data on Oddsivio records.
The third goal angered the home support, and the game was temporarily stopped after cups were thrown onto the pitch. Cambuur, whose long unbeaten run was on the line, at least gave their fans something before the break: Nicky Souren placed a finish into the far corner on 41 minutes to make it 3-1 at half-time.
Bajraktarevic's performance carried extra weight. Ivan Perisic missed the squad with a head wound picked up against Club Brugge in midweek, and the Bosnia international, starting in his place, seized the opportunity with two assists. Reports in the last day say AC Milan and Villarreal are now monitoring him, as Nogomania reports — afternoons like this explain why.
Cambuur Fight Back, Then Mijnans Slams the Door
Cambuur refused to fold. Van Bommel missed a big chance in the six-yard box early in the second half, and when substitute Iwan Henstra steered home a Rafik El Arguioui pass on 78 minutes, the Kooi Stadion suddenly believed at 3-2.
The belief lasted less than two minutes. Mijnans curled a free-kick over the wall on 80 minutes to complete his hat-trick, and Ayoni Santos flicked in a fifth in stoppage time, his first goal for PSV, from a Kodai Sano assist. United States international Sergino Dest, booked in the second half, had been replaced by then, his work done.
It was Mijnans' second hat-trick of the season, and his second in his first 10 league games for PSV — something only Dries Mertens had managed for the club before him, per the Eredivisie's own review. He now has nine league goals this season.
So What: PSV Take Control of the Title Race
The table going into the break is tight but clear: PSV lead on 26 points from 12 games, one ahead of Feyenoord and Ajax, with Twente on 24 and AZ on 23. Sunday's 31 goals across the league were the most ever scored on a single Eredivisie matchday outside the final two rounds of a season.
PSV's response to their midweek European defeat is the mark of champions: three goals in 19 minutes, a wobble absorbed, and the door slammed by their best player. They return at NEC Nijmegen on November 21 knowing the title race now runs through Eindhoven. Feyenoord, winless in five in all competitions, have two weeks to stew on losing top spot in the space of one afternoon.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is what title winners do. PSV watched Feyenoord collapse, watched Ajax drop points, and then produced the most ruthless opening 20 minutes of the Dutch season. Mijnans is becoming the story of this Eredivisie campaign — a midfielder playing as a striker and outscoring most strikers — and if he keeps this pace, the championship will not be a race for long. Can Feyenoord recover after the break, or is this now PSV's title to lose?
