Ajax closed to with a point of leaders PSV Eindhoven with a 2-0 win at Heerenveen on a weekend when five of the top six teams dropped points.

The Amsterdammers started strongly and had already been denied a goal and a penalty by offside decisions when Josip Sutalo put them ahead from a corner in the 20th minute.

The visitors had a sackful of further chances, with Brian Brobbey and Kenneth Taylor both falling foul of the offside flag, before Chuka Akpom settled the contest eight minutes from time.

PSV’s post-Christmas hangover continued as they went down at 3-1 PEC Zwolle, with Bulgarian midfielder Filip Krastev putting the league leaders to the sword with an inspired performance.

The 23-year-old threw down the gauntlet in the second minute when he lashed in a shot from outside the area to open the scoring.

Johan Bakayoko equalised after 25 minutes, but Krastev volleyed in from a corner to restore the lead before half-time and after PEC had survived a second-half onslaught, the Bulgarian’s unselfish pass allowed Dylan Vente to roll in a third.

Utrecht, Feyenoord draw

Utrecht missed the chance to move within four points of PSV as they were held to a 0-0 draw by AZ. Utrecht had a golden chance to snatch the points in the last minute, but substitute David Min headed straight into the hands of Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro.

Feyenoord also failed to take full advantage of PSV’s slip-up as they had to settle for a point in Tilburg. Jesse Bosch hit a 76th-minute equaliser for Willem II when a loose ball landed at his feet, after Igor Paixão had scored for Feyenoord on the stroke of half-time.

Go Ahead Eagles continued their excellent recent form as a last-minute winner by Milan Smit against Groningen secured their third win in four matches to lift them to seventh place.

A late rush by NEC secured a handsome win over Fortuna Sittard after the two teams went into the half-time break all square at 1-1. Vito van Crooij scored directly from a corner in the 69th minute to put NEC back in front before Calvin Verdonk fired in an unstoppable shot two minutes later and substitute Thomas Ouwejan added a fourth.

NAC took a 2-0 lead against Twente Enschede with an excellent shot by Adam Kaied and an opportunist strike by Elías Már Ómarsson. Daan Rots headed in a corner to reduce the arrears but Twente were denied an equaliser two minutes later when Ricky van Wolfswinkel was ruled to have been standing offside.

Dream debut for Rots

The outstanding goal of the weekend came in the relegation contest between Almere City and Heracles. Heracles’s 18-year-old debutant Mats Rots collected a throw-out from the goalkeeper in his own half, ran up the left-hand channel and cut into the penalty area before finding the bottom corner.

Heracles made sure of the points when a perfectly weighted cross by Brian De Keersmaecker was met with a glancing header from Jizz Hornkamp.

RKC Waalwijk remain two points behind Almere in last place after drawing 1-1 away to fellow strugglers Sparta. Both goals came in the first 25 minutes, with Said Bakari equalising for Sparta after Oskar Zadawa had given the visitors an early lead.

Results

Saturday

Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 Groningen

PEC Zwolle 3-1 PSV Eindhoven

Utrecht 0-0 AZ Alkmaar

Willem II Tilburg 1-1 Feyenoord

Sunday

Almere City 0-2 Heracles Almelo

Heerenveen 0-2 Ajax

NAC Breda 2-1 Twente Enschede

NEC Nijmegen 4-1 Fortuna Sittard

Sparta Rotterdam 1-1 RKC Waalwijk