The 84th minute strike by the visiting captain came after Feyenoord substitute Anass Achahbar equalised in the 71st with a brilliant overhead kick after controlling the ball on his chest.
Henk Veerman had put Heerenveen ahead six minutes before halftime but Feyenoord looked to be fighting back in the second half before Van den Berg's close-range winner.
Feyenoord stay 12 points adrift of leaders Ajax Amsterdam and 11 behind second-placed champions PSV Eindhoven. Heerenveen have moved up to 11th in the standings with the win.
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The match marked the launch of an experiment by the Dutch FA who used a video referee to study the game.
He had no contact with the match officials but might in future be able to assist with contentious decisions.
Images of the video referee sitting in a television production truck outside the ground watching a bank of screens were relayed by the KNVB on YouTube.
In Thursday’s other game, Utrecht suffered their first defeat after five wins and a draw in their previous six league games when they went down 1-0 at Roda JC Kerkrade.
Substitute Maecky Ngombo scored in the 81st minute to give Roda their second league win since August. Utrecht are seventh on 32 points, while Roda sit in 13th spot with 22.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ken Ferris)
