Ajax clean up

Ajax moved to within three points of Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven with a 3-0 win over struggling Heracles Almelo.

Two second-half goals from Klaas Jan Huntelaar did the trick for Henk ten Cate’s side after Wesley Sneijder had given them an early lead with a curling free-kick.

Former Nottingham Forest striker Pierre van Hooijdonk inadvertently diverted the ball into the back of his own net for the only goal of the game as Feyenoord won 1-0 at Vitesse Arnhem to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

Elsewhere, 10-man FC Twente broke out of their mini-slump to see off FC Utrecht 3-0, while Sparta Rotterdam came from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw with Heerenveen.

Excelsior scrambled out of the relegation play-off zone with a battling 3-1 win against nine-man ADO Den Haag.