Ajax whipped lowly rated Willem II 4-1 at home on Sunday, cutting its deficit with Dutch premier league leaders PSV Eindhoven to 4 points, after PSV was held to a 1-1 draw by Roda JC.
Ajax, expected to easily defeat 17th-ranked Willem II, soon found itself a goal down after Frank Demouge opened the account for the visitors at the 18th minute.
At the 29th minute, striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar equalized for Ajax, and Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez made it 2-1 for the hosts at the 45th minute.
Suarez produced a hat trick in the afternoon after scoring twice at the second half, at the 51st and 88th minutes respectively.
PSV, which lost its most recent league match to Utrecht 3-1 on March 2, took the lead against hosts Roda at the 67th minute thanks to a goal by Peruvian striker Jefferson Farfan. Nevertheless, PSV was denied full points at the last minute of the match after Marcel Meeuwis luckily leveled the score for the hosts.
PSV, which led Ajax by nine points at one stage, seemed to have lost some steam recently. Ajax, which has notched up two consecutive wins, has kept its hopes alive of winning the title.
If Ajax can win at Eindhoven on March 19, PSV will see its advantage over Ajax further down to just 1 point.
In other actions on Sunday, host Utrecht was held to a 2-2 draw by AZ Alkmaar, and NEC Nijmegen beat visiting Sparta Rotterdam 4-2.
On the latest league table, PSV (60 points) stays at No. 1, followed by Ajax (56), and Feyenoord (54).
(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2008)