Ajax gained confidence after last week's commanding 5-2 win over FC Groningen and Thursday's 2-0 win over Atalanta, with substitutes Tolu and Abdellah Ouazane making the difference with late goals. The pair were rewarded with places in the starting XI, which also included Dies Janse, Viktor Tsygankov, and Thilo Kehrer.
Ajax controlled the first 20 minutes but couldn't get a shot on goal until Ouazane played a quick combination with Julian Brandt, who set up the 17-year-old perfectly for a curled shot into Michael Brouwer's top corner to break the deadlock in the 22nd minute.
The visitors dominated possession, but watched as Sparta fought their way back into the game in the closing minutes of the first half after failing to convince for over 30 minutes.
After firing their first shot on target in the 37th minute, Sparta scored a late first-half equaliser as veteran Jens Toornstra levelled the game with a nifty header to celebrate his 500th Eredivisie appearance.
It took Ajax no time whatsoever to aptly reply - Julian Brandt escaped on the counter and laid it off to Tolu, who calmly slotted the ball into the far corner to restore the lead with seconds remaining in the first half.
Ajax piled on the pressure in the second half and were inches away from doubling their lead in the 53rd minute via Tolu, but the Nigerian striker hit the post as Brouwer rushed in.
A rare chance for Sparta nearly ended in disaster for Ajax - after Marc ter Stegen played in Brandt, the German midfielder simply handed the ball to Mitchell van Bergen, who rushed one-on-one with Ter Stegen but couldn't finish as the Barcelona loanee came to the visitors' rescue.
Another one-on-one ended without a goal as Tolu put the ball in Brouwer's hands, but it were Sparta who got the bigger chances in the second half as Ter Stegen saved Ajax once more with a stellar reflex to Milan Zonneveld's close-range header.
The Rotterdam side kept pushing and put Ajax in trouble several times in the closing stages. The biggest chance was for substitute Casper Terho, who tried to profit from Ter Stegen being out of position but was denied on the goal line by Janse.
Ajax dominated the first half, but were almost lucky to get away with a win at Het Kasteel. The record champions claimed their third successive win across all competitions to climb to second place and cut the gap to leaders Feyenoord to just three points.
