Ajax’s run of seven consecutive wins came to an end as they twice had to come from behind to earn a point at FC Twente.

Michel Vlap twice gave the home side the lead in Enschede, the first time just before half-time when Ajax defender Youri Baas played the ball straight into his path.

Davy Klaassen equalised early in the second half after excellent work by Kenneth Taylor to create the opening, but Vlap replied with a curling strike from the edge of the box in the 65th minute.

Bernard Traoré tapped in from close range two minutes later, but Twente almost grabbed a late winner when Eredivisie top scorer Sem Steijn drew a smart save from Remko Pasveer.

The result leaves Ajax seven points behind league leaders PSV, who won 3-0 at NAC Breda. Ricardo Pepi scored his fifth goal in three league starts as stand-in for Luuk de Jong, while Ismael Saibari bagged his first since April.

Utrecht moved two points ahead of Ajax in second place as Paxton Aaronson’s low shot from a corner was enough to beat Heracles in a game of few chances. Both teams have a game in hand on PSV and will meet on December 4 in Amsterdam.

AZ lose again

Feyenoord had little trouble dispatching Almere as they went 2-1 up after just two minutes with goals from Hwang In-Boem and Ramiz Zerrouki, while Almere briefly drew level when Kornelius Hansen profited from a blunder by Gernot Trauner.

AZ slipped further behind as they went down 2-1 at home to Willem II to record their fifth defeat in six league matches.

Kyan Vaesen and Cisse Sandra put the visitors 2-0 up towards the end of the first half, and only a marginal offside call denied Sandra a second. AZ twice hit the post as they pressed in the second half but were unable to add to Mexx Meerdinck’s 63rd-minute strike.

Bottom club RKC lost 3-0 at home to NEC after Daouda Weidmann was sent off for picking up two yellow cards in the first half. Koki Ogawa, Sami Ouaissa and Iván Márquez got the goals for NEC in the second half.

Heerenveen moved out of the play-off zone after beating Go Ahead Eagles thanks to a smart finish by Jacob Trenskow, who was released by Luuk Brouwers’ clever flick-on.

Go Ahead were denied an equaliser in stoppage time when the video referee ruled Finn Stokkers had pushed a defender shortly before heading into the net.

Groningen ended a winless streak going back to mid-August as Romano Postema scored the only goal against Sparta to deny the visitors’ new coach Maurice Steijn a win on his return to the dugout.

PEC Zwolle came back in the second half to beat Fortuna Sittard 3-1 with three goals in a 15-minute spell. Dylan Mbayo scored two and set up the other for Damian van der Haar, after Ezequiel Bullaude had put Fortuna ahead from the penalty spot.

Results

Friday

Utrecht 1-0 Heracles Almelo

Saturday

Groningen 1-0 Sparta Rotterdam

NAC Breda 0-3 PSV Eindhoven

PEC Zwolle 3-1 Fortuna Sittard

RKC Waalwijk 0-3 NEC Nijmegen

Sunday

Almere City 1-4 Feyenoord

AZ Alkmaar 1-2 Willem II Tilburg

Heerenveen 1-0 Go Ahead Eagles

Twente Enschede 2-2 Ajax