Michael Bradley and Heerenveen were sunk at home by Ajax, while Charles Kazlauskas and TOP Oss kept their promotion playoff hopes alive with a win at Veendam.

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AJAX WINS AT HEERENVEEN CARNIVAL
Heerenveen saw a three-game win streak rudely snapped at home by Ajax, who kept slim title hopes alive by posting a fortuitous 4-2 victory on Saturday night.

Michael Bradley put in a workmanlike 90 minutes in a dramatic slugfest that quickly evolved into a game of "Can you top this?" between Frisian sparkplug Miralem Sulejmani and away sniper Luis Suárez.

Home keeper Rob van Dijk had to be on his toes in the seventh minute to stop an acrobatic Suárez header. Nine minutes later, Bradley made a bid to grab sole possession of third place in the Eredivisie scoring chart, only to have his header flash over at the end of a series of crosses.

Using fancy footwork each time, Miralem Sulejmani then threatened Maarten Stekelenburg's away cage in the 20th and 24th minutes to begin a night long prowl for the Serbia prodigy.

In the 29th minute, former Heerenveen ace Klaas-Jan Huntelaar slid a try just wide after Suárez had expertly pulled down a high-arcing long ball.

A tense opening period finally saw Ajax open the scoring against the run of play just moments before the halftime whistle. Michal Švec made a titanic gaffe, mishandling into the wheelhouse of Huntelaar, whose rebound was scooped home by the onrushing Suarez.

Heerenveen emerged from the break to continue the search of their first strike, but thanks to the sad luck suffered by Sulejmani, they were forced to wait a while. The forward capped a fine 50th minute rush keyed by Bradley's outlet pass by nodding onto the bar.

Three minutes later, a "Double Mickey" shot led to Sulejmani hitting the woodwork again. Bradley charged into the area form the left channel and centered for the #21 shirt, who spun out of a tackle before tagging the bottom of the post with a partially blocked effort.

Shortly thereafter, Gianni Zuiverloon sent area invader Jan Vertonghen into a tumble, which allowed Perez to double the lead from the spot.

Sulejmani then found the frame for the third time in eight minutes by heading onto the same post from a corner kick.

The diminutive attacker finally got his just reward on the hour. Sulejmani collected a low Zuiverloon cross, tap danced by Johnny Heitinga and slotted past Stekelenburg to halve the Ajax advantage.

The renewed hope lasted only seconds, however, as Huntelaar nodded a Suárez cross home almost directly from the ensuing kickoff.

With 18 minutes left, Sulejmani stung the hands of Stekelenburg from 16 meters after stopping on a dime to shake free of his marker. The budding star then got loose three minutes later, only to be foiled on a delicate punch shot by the keeper's paw.

Huntelaar added his second of the game from more fine Suárez industry in the 89th minute to reach 30 league goals for the second time in the last three seasons.

Tottenham target Danijel Pranjic was able to claw one back in stoppage time by burying a Sulejmani lay-off from 20 meters, but it was not near enough to keep the Blue White Vikings from slipping to fifth place.

Heerenveen will be in recovery mode when they head south to face Willem II on Saturday.

Scoring
AJAX - Luis Suárez 15 44'
AJAX - Kenneth Perez 12 (PK) 55'
HEER - Miralem Sulejmani 13 (Gianni Zuiverloon) 60'
AJAX - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 29 (Luis Suárez) 61'
AJAX - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 30 (Luis Suárez) 89'
HEER - Danijel Pranjic 7 (Miralem Sulejmani) 90+2'

Line-ups
HEER - Rob van Dijk; Gianni Zuiverloon, Michel Breuer, Michal Švec (Calvin Jong-A-Pin 63'), Michael Dingsdag, Christian Grindheim (Paolo Henrique 66'), Michael Bradley, Danijel Pranjic, Roy Beerens (Jakob Poulsen 68'), Gerald Sibon, Miralem Sulejmani

AJAX - Maarten Stekelenburg; Bruno Silva, Johnny Heitinga, Thomas Vermaelen, Jan Vertonghen, Rasmus Lindgren, Kenneth Perez, Edgar Davids, Dennis Rommedahl, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Luis Suárez

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TOP STAYS IN FOR POSTSEASON
Charles Kazlauskas and TOP Oss kept themselves alive for the final period title with a 2-0 triumph at Veendam on Friday night.

The American went the distance in his familiar right back slot.

After Veendam bossed much of the first half and visiting keeper Wilko de Vogt survived a few scares, TOP broke the ice only a couple of minutes before the break. Wouter van den Herik picked Angelo Cijntje's pocket at the endline and rounded straying netminder Barry Ditewig to curl home from a sharp angle.

De Vogt then made a double save before the clubs went in and his teammates rewarded him almost immediately after the interval. Aziz Moutawakil collected a pass from Davy Zafarin, cut in and unleashed a shot that the bumbling Ditewig watched slap his hand on the way in.

The TOP goalie preserved the shutout win with late saves on Gerard Wiekens and Maarten Woudenberg.

Now four points behind virtual period leaders ADO Den Haag with three games to play, the Men from Oss return home to tackle Haarlem on Friday.

Scoring
TOP - Wouter van den Herik 3 43'
TOP - Aziz Moutawakil 2 48'

TOP - Wilko de Vogt; Charles Kazlauskas, Niek Ripson, Leon van Dalen, Bart van Hintum, Dirk Schoofs, Erik van der Ven (Yvo van Engelen 13'), Davy Zafarin, Aziz Moutawakil (Brahim Bouhadan 81'), Erik Quekel (Revy Rosalia 90'), Wouter van den Herik