Demy De Zeeuw fired the Amsterdam club in front after 26 minutes, but they had to wait until the 71st minute for Marko Pantelic to give them some breathing space.

Siem De Jong then rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.

Ajax sit a point behind leading duo PSV Eindhoven and FC Twente, while Feyenoord climbed to fourth with a 2-0 win at NAC Breda.

Andwele Slory (63) and Leroy Fer (90) were on the scoresheet for the visitors, who also finished the match with 10 men after Denny Landzaat was given his marching orders late on for a second bookable offence.

Heerenveen enjoyed only their second success of the campaign with a 2-0 result at Sparta Rotterdam.

Paulo Henrique fired Heerenveen in front on the stroke of half-time with a Viktor Elm penalty securing the points in the 74th minute.

Danny Holla's 26th-minute strike earned FC Groningen a 1-0 win over Vitesse Arnhem, while Heracles Almelo ran out 2-0 winners at NEC Nijmegen thanks to goals from Romas da Silva and Bas Dost.

Olivier Ter Horst was also sent off for Heracles.