A lively start saw NEC take Vitezslav Jaros' goal under fire early and take a quick lead via the Czech stopper, who tapped Bryan Linssen's third attempt across his own goal line after two tremendous saves. A VAR check was necessary to determine whether the ball crossed the line, and though it was minimal, referee Allard Lindhout granted NEC the goal.
After Koki Ogawa came close to a second NEC goal, Lindhout was called to the screen for a potential red card for Linssen after the forward tackled Ajax defender Ko Itakura from behind and hit his Achilles. With no deliberate attempt to hit Itakura and the Japanese defender coming away unscathed, a yellow card sufficed.
It was an uninspiring first half hour for Ajax, who won their last four games under caretaker manager Fred Grim, with the record champions creating no chances whatsoever in the house of fourth-placed NEC.
One well-set-up chance was good enough for the Amsterdam outfit, however, as Kasper Dolberg scored the equaliser with Ajax's first attempt on goal following good work from Sean Steur and Anton Gaaei.
Lightning struck twice for Ajax in the first half after a catastrophic mishap from NEC defender Philippe Sandler, who clumsily lost the ball to a hunting Youri Regeer as the last man. Regeer laid it off to Mika Godts, who put the ball in an empty goal to give Ajax an unlikely lead right before the break.
Another bright start to the half earned NEC their second goal of the evening - Sami Ouaissa outplayed Lucas Rosa and curled the ball into the far corner, leaving Jaros hopeless.
The Nijmegen outfit were reduced to ten men not much later after a charge from goalscorer Ouaissa, who stepped on Ajax captain Davy Klaassen's calf and was sent off 13 minutes after his equaliser.
Ajax tried their luck and were set on making their advantage count, but couldn't come closer than attempts from Oscar Gloukh, Kenneth Taylor and Mika Godts, all of which couldn't beat an excellent Gonzalo Crettaz.
The record champions were held to a 2-2 draw in an entertaining game that saw Ajax's five-game winning streak come to an end in Nijmegen. Ajax continue their Eredivisie campaign in 2026 with an away game at Telstar on January 11th.
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