( CNN ) -- A 75th minute strike by striker Graziano Pelle gave AZ Alkmaar a 1-0 home win over NEC Nijmegen on Sunday to leave his side top of the Dutch standings . Italian star Pelle scored the winner to keep AZ on top heading into the Dutch break . The Italian 's decisive goal means Louis van Gaal 's men will head into 2009 with a three-point lead over Ajax Amsterdam after 17 rounds . The Eredivisie is set to resume on January 16 after a three-week break . Earlier , Dario Cvitanich scored a hat-trick as Ajax beat ADO Den Haag 3-0 to temporarily draw level on points with the leaders . But AZ , who are unbeaten in 15 games , then saw off Nijmegen , who had also been on a fine 14-game unbeaten run . AZ have 41 points , with Ajax on 38 . Steve McClaren 's FC Twente are in third place , seven points adrift of AZ , after holding defending champions PSV Eindhoven to a goalless draw on Saturday . PSV are fourth with 30 points and looking set to relinquish their league title . On Friday , Feyenoord snapped a run of three successive losses by beating NAC Breda 3-1 , but the struggling Rotterdam giants are in 12th spot .
AZ Alkmaar beat NEC Nijmegen 1-0 in Dutch league game on Sunday . Alkmaar on top by three points from Ajax heading into midwinter break . Former Lecce striker Graziano Pelle scores crucial winner for AZ .