Ajax moved to within three points of Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven as they won 2-0 at VVV-Venlo.
They were made to work for their win, though, with VVV holding out for just over an hour before substitute Mido broke the deadlock.
Miralem Sulejmani added a second after 70 minutes to add gloss to the result.
Struggling Feyenoord were given a scare by ADO Den Haag before an own goal set them on their way to a 2-1 win.
The hosts had the better of the first half but could not find a way through and Dmitry Bulykin's well-taken goal a minute before half-time left them up against it.
But Luc Castaignos forced Aleksandar Radosavljevic into an error immediately after the break and grabbed the winner himself shortly before the hour mark.
A late penalty from Willy Overtoom earned Heracles Almelo a 2-1 win over FC Utrecht and gave Peter Bosz's men a little breathing space over the relegation zone.
After Ricky van Wolfswinkel had missed a penalty for the visitors, Heracles took the lead through Alje Schut's own goal.
Tim Cornelisse replied and that looked to have claimed a point for Utrecht until Overtoom's spot-kick eight minutes from time.
De Graafschap and Vitesse Arnhem cancelled each other out at De Vijverberg as a goal apiece inside five first-half minutes saw the points shared in a 1-1 draw.
Youssouf Hersi opened the scoring after 23 minutes, converting a cross from Steve de Ridder.
But the lead was shortlived as Eiljan Pluim struck to earn his side a point, with both sides extending their unbeaten Eredivisie runs - the hosts to three games and Vitesse to five.