Ajax coach Erik ten Hag declared himself satisfied with his team’s performance as they brushed aside 10-man Feyenoord in a one-sided encounter.

Jeremiah St Juste’s sending-off after only five minutes effectively ended the match as a contest. Referee Björn Kuipers initially gave the defender a yellow card for a heavy challenge on Nicolas Tagliafico, but upgraded it to red after studying VAR footage.

Feyenoord then compounded their misfortune as goalkeeper Justin Bijlow let Frenkie de Jong’s shot slip through his legs in the 22nd minute to give Ajax the lead. A second goal just before half-time by the outstanding Hakim Ziyech and a late strike by Dusan Tadic gave the Amsterdammers a comfortable win.

‘I could split a few negative hairs about the second half, but we did the job and scored goals. What more do you want?’ said Ten Hag.

He added that the early red card was ‘a shame for neutral spectators,’ but added: ‘You saw that it was difficult for us in the beginning to play football against 10 men, but we kept our cool and eventually the goal came.’

Feyenoord manager Giovanni van Bronkhorst had no complaints about the dismissal of St Juste. ‘I’m angry with Jerry. You can’t do that in a match at this level,’ he said. ‘Passion is absolutely essential in games like these, but you still need to play with your head.’

The result means Ajax stay five points behind Eredivisie leaders PSV, who needed a late goal from Denzel Dumfries on Saturday to overcome bottom-placed Groningen and maintain their 100% start to the season.

Elsewhere, Heracles missed the chance to overtake Feyenoord when they drew 1-1 at PEC Zwolle, Heerenveen leapfrogged AZ into eighth place with a 3-2 win in Alkmaar and De Graafschap moved up to 15th by beating Excelsior 4-1.

Groningen remain 18th with four points, one behind NAC, who drew 1-1 at ADO Den Haag, and five behind their northern rivals Emmen, who were unable to secure a first Eredivisie home win against VVV Venlo even after Venlo defender Roel Janssen was sent off on 19 minutes.

Vitesse Arnhem and FC Utrecht moved up to fifth and seventh places respectively with wins against Fortuna and Willem II.