Jozy Altidore scored a hat-trick and set up team-mate Erik Falkenburg for his goal as AZ Alkmaar thrashed Roda JC 4-0.
The United States striker opened the scoring after 13 minutes, slamming home a cross from Viktor Elm, and then provided the assist for Falkenburg to make it 2-0 after 29 minutes.
Altidore breached Roda's defence again five minutes before the interval, running on to a perfect ball from Maarten Martens before slipping a shot past goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
And the scoring was completed after 65 minutes when Adam Maher played a ball between the central defenders and Altidore applied the final touch to round off his treble.
Vitesse Arnhem overcame the first-half dismissal of Jan-Arie van der Heijden to beat FC Groningen 3-0 and climb to second in the Eredivisie.
Van der Heijden's dismissal was the talking point of the match, with referee Bas Nijhuis showing the defender a straight red card on the half-hour mark for a seemingly innocuous push on Mitchell Schet.
The visitors were furious with the decision and Groningen almost made their numerical advantage count when Kees Kwakman struck the crossbar soon after.
However, Vitesse came out fighting after the interval and were in front in the 63rd minute when Mike Havenaar headed home Patrick van Aanholt's cross.
Tomas Kalas then added another three minutes from time with Havenaar teeing up the defender, and Wilfried Bony had the final say in stoppage time with his finish to another perfect ball from Van Aanholt.
The win leaves unbeaten Vitesse two points behind leaders FC Twente having won four of their opening five fixtures.
FC Utrecht also defied the odds on Sunday as they battled red cards for Anouar Kali and Alexander Gerndt to post an unlikely 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven.
It was a poor day at the office for Dick Advocaat's side, who were fortunate not to be trailing after 25 minutes when a header from Mike van der Hoorn came back off the post.
Their luck appeared to have changed when Kali was shown a second yellow card for Utrecht after 70 minutes, but the hosts responded to the challenge with the opening goal two minutes later from a Dave Bulthuis free-kick.
Another red card followed for Gerndt 10 minutes from time for a clumsy challenge on Mark van Bommel but the fight had already gone out of PSV.
Heracles Almelo enjoyed their first win of the campaign with a 2-1 result over NAC Breda courtesy of Everton's stoppage-time strike.
Alex Schalk had fired NAC in front after 14 minute from close range and the match appeared to be heading their way until the final nine minutes.
Willy Overtoom, who had earlier hit the crossbar with a free-kick, headed in the equaliser from Everton's assist before the Brazilian striker snatched a winner three minutes into stoppage time to send the home crowd into raptures.
FC Twente continued their stunning start to the season with a 6-2 thrashing of Willem II in Tilburg on Saturday.
Robbert Schilder scored twice in the rout as Twente notched up their fifth successive win.
Twente have yet to drop any points this campaign and have netted 15 times in five matches, conceding just four goals.
The scoring began after 39 minutes when Felipe Gutierrez made the most of a Roberto Rosales pass to tap home.
Another goal then followed two minutes later from Luc Castaignos, who pounced on a poor defensive pass to slip the ball beyond home goalkeeper David Meul.
Gutierrez then teed up Schilder for his first of the match - and Twente's third - after 53 minutes, before Marc Hocher's 71st-minute reply gave Willem II a brief glimmer of hope.
That was quickly extinguished, however, as Schilder and Willem Janssen scored two goals in as many minutes to effectively end the contest.
Jeroen Lumu's strike for the home side six minutes from time was little more than a consolation and their miserable evening was completed when Philipp Haastrup put through his own net in the dying minutes.
Ajax briefly climbed up to second with a routine 2-0 victory over RKC Waalwijk.
The defending champions were some way off their best at the Amsterdam ArenA but still went ahead after 52 minutes when Lasse Schone benefited from a pass by Danish compatriot Christian Eriksen to sweep the ball home right footed.
Jody Lukoki then added a fortunate second after 68 minutes. The winger failed to get much power behind his shot but RKC goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet still let the effort roll between his legs and into the net.
Feyenoord were also 2-0 winners over Zwolle, a result which saw them move into the top four.
Graziano Pelle fired home the opening goal at the start of the second half with a strike which took a helpful deflection off Joost Broerse.
A Lex Immers penalty then wrapped up the points after 73 minutes, with the spot-kick awarded for Gerard Aafjes' push on Ruben Schaken.
Heerenveen's disappointing start to the campaign continued as they succumbed 3-1 at home to 10-man ADO Den Haag.
Marco van Basten's men came into the match without a win so far, and that run showed little sign of ending as ADO scored three times in eight first-half minutes.
Rydell Poepon fired home the opener from Tjaronn Chery's pass after 20 minutes and Jens Toornstra scored the second goal four minutes later, tapping home the rebound after Kevin Jansen's curling strike had come back off the post.
Chery added a third after 28 minutes, pinching the ball from Youssef El Akchaoui and sliding home a shot.
Things improved for Heerenveen in the second half and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute after the visitors failed to clear a corner kick.
Aaron Meijers was also sent off for ADO after 70 minutes for a second yellow card, but Heerenveen were unable to conjure up a comeback, although Chery struck the woodwork late on.
Uche Nwofor scored a brace as VVV-Venlo came from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw against NEC Nijmegen.
The hosts trailed after just two minutes when Michel Breuer headed home a free-kick from Ryan Koolwijk, and that deficit was doubled 10 minutes into the second half with another header, this time from Melvin Platje.
But Nwofor pulled a goal back from close range after 67 minutes and made sure the points were shared nine minutes later with a header of his own.
