Michael Bradley and Heerenveen rode a 41st minute Jakob Poulsen strike past Sunday afternoon hosts NEC Nijmegen to regain fourth place in the Eredivisie.

The American went the full route, picking up thw winning assist and a late yellow card for a tackle on Lorenzo Davids that puts him one away from suspension.

The Blue White Vikings had the first opportunities to score, but Radoslaw Matusiak failed from a good position and Gerald Sibon had a free kick tipped around by NEC keeper Gabor Babos.

The hosts spent most of the opening period in control, but despite plenty of pressure and eight corner kicks could come no closer than when a wide open Tim Janssen headed wide.

Moments before halftime, Bradley played Poulsen forward and the fullback-turned-winger made no mistake in bagging the only goal of the game.

NEC resumed controlling possession after the break, but could create no great scoring chances, with Bradley's near miss stretch for a Danijel Pranjic cross in the late going the best look anyone would enjoy over a muddy final 45.

Heerenveen will now return home to host arch rivals FC Groningen next Sunday.

Scoring
HEER - Jakob Poulsen 1 (Michael Bradley) 41'

Line-ups
HEER - Brian Vandenbussche; Calvin Jong-A-Pin, Christian Bak-Nielsen (Henrico Drost 46'), Jakob Poulsen, Michael Dingsdag, Michel Breuer, Geert Arend Roorda, Michael Bradley, Danijel Pranjic, Gerald Sibon, Radoslaw Matusiak (Miralem Sulejmani 62')

NEC - Gabor Babos; Dominique Kivuvu (Saidi Ntibazonkiza 76'), Jonas Olsson, Muslu Nalbantoglu, Peter Wisgerhof, Youssef El Akchaoui, Krisztian Vadocz, Lorenzo Davids, Jeremain Lens, Jhon van Beukering, Tim Janssen (Brett Holman 64')