The Amsterdammers had looked on course for a wide-margin victory after first-half goals from Demy de Zeeuw and Luis Suarez, but their momentum was lost with the 56th-minute dismissal of Andre Ooijer.

The veteran defender was shown a straight red card after pulling back Dennis Oliech as last man on the edge of the area and Valter Birsa then lashed home the free-kick.

It set up a tense finale for Jol's side, and while the former Tottenham boss was content they were able to hold on to secure their first win in the competition, he was frustrated it was not by more.

"I'm happy with the victory. It's a shame we went down to 10 men because I think we could have won by more," Jol expressed to UEFA.com post-match.

"I can understand Andre Ooijer's reaction but in hindsight it would have been better if he had not done that.

"Then we had a few problems after they made it 2-1 straight away - they would have scored even if we had 11 men. I'm very happy with the way we played in the first half - we did everything we needed to.

"And, of course, you then hope for more, but that was it."

The win moved Ajax level with AC Milan on four points but their failure to win by more leaves them behind the second-placed Italians, who lost 2-0 at leaders Real Madrid, on goal difference.

"I was hoping we could make it 3-0 and then maybe look for more, especially with Real Madrid beating AC Milan 2-0," he added.

"But when you then go down to 10 men it is very annoying, especially as we lost our first-half flow.

"We should have made our ascendancy count. I would also have preferred Real Madrid to win by more than 2-0. But we did what we had to."