Marc Janko struck four times as FC Twente moved back up to second place in the Eredivisie with a 5-0 thrashing of struggling Heracles Almelo.
Janko opened the scoring in the fourth minute and, after Luuk de Jong had doubled their advantage six minutes before the break, he added further goals on the stroke of half-time, on the hour mark and 20 minutes from time.
The win moves the champions back to within a point of PSV Eindhoven at the top of the table.
Ajax climbed to third in the standings thanks to a hard-fought 2-0 home victory over struggling Feyenoord.
Toby Alderweireld opened the scoring after 31 minutes and Miralem Sulejmani added a second goal from a 77th-minute penalty as Frank de Boer's side kicked off 2011 with a win that moves them within three points of leaders PSV Eindhoven.
The result did little for Feyenoord, though. The Rotterdammers remain 13th in the table - just four points above third-bottom Excelsior.
AZ Alkmaar lost ground in the title race after being held to a 2-2 draw by spirited NEC Nijmegen.
Bjorn Vleminckx was the hero for the visitors, opening the scoring in the first period and then securing a point for his side with his second of the night after AZ had forged ahead through goals from Stijn Schaars and Erik Falkenburg.
Leroy George was sent off for NEC just three minutes after entering the fray as a 78th-minute substitute but the hosts could not make their advantage count in the final minutes.
The point leaves AZ in fifth place, eight points adrift of leaders PSV Eindhoven, while NEC stay 11th.
Debutant Atilla Yildirim emerged from the FC Utrecht substitutes' bench to snatch a last-minute winner in a 2-1 victory at 10-man VVV-Venlo.
The bulk of the action had been concentrated in a three-minute period in the first half.
Frank Demouge gave Utrecht the lead but VVV immediately levelled through Ken Leemans, only to lose Niels Fleurens to a red card moments later.
They hung on throughout the second half, goalkeeper Kevin Begois keeping the visitors at bay, but Yildirim struck at the death to earn his side the three points.
