Ajax bounced back from Champions League disappointment with 1-0 win over RKC Waalwijk on Sunday, their third successive Eredivisie victory.
The Amsterdam giants failed to progress to the Champions League round of 16 after they lost 3-0 at home to Real Madrid on Wednesday, coupled with Lyon's remarkable 7-1 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb.
Small consolation it may be, they at least maintained their strong recent league form with a narrow victory at the Mandemakers Stadion, thanks to a 42nd-minute own-goal from Guy Ramos.
RKC's chances of finding an equaliser faded when they lost Sigourney Bandjar to a red card in the 64th minute.
Victory sees Ajax climb back above Heerenveen into fourth place, although they remain eight points behind league leaders AZ Alkmaar.
Elsewhere, Feyenoord trailed 2-1 at Utrecht, before coming back to draw 2-2.
John Guidetti opened the scoring for the visitors two minutes into the match at the Stadion Galgenwaard.
Goals from Daan Bovenberg and Edouard Duplan either side of half-time saw hosts Utrecht turn the deficit into a 2-1 lead.
But Guidetti was on target again in the 66th minute to grab a point for Feyenoord.
Utrecht finished with 10 men following the 90th-minute dismissal of Davy Bulthuis.
The draw leaves Feyenoord sixth on the table, level on points with fifth-placed Heerenveen, while Utrecht are down in 13th place.
Elsewhere, Barry Maguire's penalty in first-half stoppage time and a late Brian Linssen goal saw VVV Venlo win 2-0 at home to Roda JC.
Pawel Kieszek received his marching orders for the foul that led to Maguire's successful spot-kick, as VVV picked up what was just their second win of the season.
Finally, Vitesse Arnhem held Groningen to a 0-0 draw at home, despite losing Nicky Hofs to a red card on 75 minutes.