Ajax moved to the top of the Eredivisie for the first time in more than two years with a ragged win at Fortuna Sittard, as champions PSV dropped points for the fourth time in their last five league matches.

Ajax took 68 minutes to break down the out-of-form Limburgers on a slippery pitch, after Shawn Adewoye was penalised for handling in the penalty area.

Steven Berghuis hit the resulting penalty straight at Luuk Koopmans, but managed to head the rebound into the path of Wout Weghorst, who applied the finishing touch from close range.

Christian Rasmussen slid in a second goal with almost the last kick of the game to put Ajax top of the league by virtue of having played one game less than PSV.

The Amsterdammers have seen five coaches come and go since Alfred Schreuder last led them to the top of the Eredivisie in November 2022, but his latest successor, Francesco Farioli, was muted in his celebrations.

“We don’t have time to dream,” the Italian said. “We only have energy to work and live from game to game.”

PSV seemed to be on course for a routine win against Brabant rivals Willem II when Noa Lang cracked in a volley from close range in the 61st minute.

Lang put his fingers to his lips after scoring in a gesture aimed at PSV’s disgruntled fans, but they had more reason for disgruntlement when right-back Mickaël Tirpan scored with a powerful shot in the 83rd minute, before Guus Til fired a chance for a late PSV winner over the crossbar.

PSV coach Peter Bosz admitted his team was struggling for form. “We want to be champions, so we can’t accept a draw at home against Willem II,” he said.

Feyenoord won the Rotterdam derby against Sparta 3-0 to move within three points of third-placed Utrecht with a game in hand.

Quinten Timber scored from the penalty spot on 35 minutes after a header by Bart Nieuwkoop hit a defender’s hand, before late goals by Anis Hadj-Moussa and Igor Paixão secored Feyenoord’s first league victory in nearly two months.

Utrecht were one of the casualties as four of the bottom five notched victories to close the gap on the teams in mid-table. Almere City won 1-0 in Utrecht with a goal by Junior Kadile to leave Ron Jans’s team still searching for their first win since Christmas.

Almere remain three points behind RKC as the club from Waalwijk continued their New Year revival by hitting five past NAC. A rejuvenated Mo Ihattaren and Polish striker Oscar Zadawa, who claimed two goals, tore NAC apart as the home club went three goals up in the first 28 minutes.

Heracles and Groningen also won their matches to pull four points clear of Sparta in the relegation play-off spot and move within sight of the European play-offs, with just two points separating the clubs in eighth and 15th place.

Heracles won 4-2 at home against Go Ahead Eagles in a match that featured a flurry of late goals. Suf Podgoreanu hit the decisive strike to put the team from Almelo 2-1 ahead in the 72nd minute, before Damon Mirani and Luka Kulenovic made sure of the points either side of a poacher’s goal by Jakob Breum.

Groningen’s Wouter Prins scored the fastest goal of the day as he poked home from a corner in the second minute against NEC. Thom van Bergen tapped in a second after 31 minutes, but the northerners owed their win to goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen, who denied NEC with a string of saves after Thijmen Blokzijl was sent off early in the second half.

Troy Parrott scored his 12th league goal of the season as AZ stayed fourth with a 2-0 win against PEC Zwolle, while Heerenveen’s 17-year-old Eser Gürbüz was on target for the second weekend in a row with a 93rd-minute equaliser against 10-man Twente.

Saturday

Feyenoord 3-0 Sparta Rotterdam

Groningen 2-1 NEC Nijmegen

Heracles Almelo 4-2 Go Ahead Eagles

PSV Eindhoven 1-1 Willem II

Sunday

AZ Alkmaar 2-0 PEC Zwolle

Fortuna Sittard 0-2 Ajax

Heerenveen 3-3 Twente Enschede

RKC Waalwijk 5-0 NAC Breda

Utrecht 0-1 Almere City