April 5 (Reuters) - PSV Eindhoven were crowned Dutch champions on Sunday for a third successive season when their nearest challengers, Feyenoord, failed to win at Volendam.
The goalless draw left PSV, who had won 4-3 at home to Utrecht on Saturday, with an unassailable lead with five matches left in this season's Eredivisie.
PSV advanced to 71 points from 29 games on Saturday, meaning Feyenoord had to win to keep alive their slim hopes, but the draw at Volendam left them with 54 points – 17 points adrift.
PSV's triumph set off immediate celebrations in the streets of Eindhoven, where fans had been waiting in expectation of Feyenoord's failure to win.
Saturday's win virtually assured them of the title given a much superior goal difference with PSV +42 to Feyenoord's +21 but Sunday's draw for Feyenoord confirmed PSV's success.
It is the third time in the club's history that PSV have won three championships in a row. They won four in a row between 1986 and 1989 and again four on the trot between 2005 and 2008 and now have a total of 27 league titles, bettered only by Ajax Amsterdam's tally of 36.
PSV will compete in the Champions League group phase for the fourth successive campaign next season. The runners-up also go into the 2026-27 group phase and the third-place finishers into the third qualifying round.
Feyenoord are only one point above surprise package NEC Nijmegen with Twente moving up to fourth spot after beating Ajax 2-1 awayon Saturday.
PSV will be presented with the trophy on Tuesday at a ceremony at Philips Stadion. A blemish on their celebrations is the cruciate ligament injury sustained by captain Jerdy Schouten against FC Utrecht, which means the 29-year-old midfielder will miss the World Cup in June.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
