Ajax, Alkmaar share the spoils

AZ Alkmaar remain top of the Eredivisie despite dropping points against ten-man Ajax in a hard-fought 2-2 draw at the Amsterdam ArenA. AZ went 2-0 up thanks to first-half goals by Brett Holman and Roy Beerens, before Ajax clawed back a point after the break with a penalty by Miralem Sulejmani and Theo Janssen's strike eight minutes before the final whistle. Ajax midfielder Eyong Enoh was sent off for two bookable offences, but AZ failed to use their man advantage, meaning Ajax remain fourth in the table with 16 points. Holman opened the scoring for the visitors in the 14th minute when his shot deflected off the leg of Jan Vertonghen into the bottom left hand corner, leaving Ajax goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer with no chance of making the save. The strike came seconds after Vermeer denied Holman his first chance of the match when he linked up with Beerens. Beerens doubles lead However, the combination was more successful in the 22nd minute when Holman set off on a counter attack and passed to Beerens, who lobbed the Ajax goalkeeper from the right of the box to double AZ's lead. Ajax had a couple of good chances before half-time, when Siem de Jong's header hit the crossbar in the 36th minute before Derk Boerrigter's shot also struck the bar seconds later. But Ajax pulled a goal back two minutes after the break when Sulejmani fired home from the penalty spot after Dirk Marcellis brought Boerrigter down in the box. Janssen then levelled the scores in the 82nd minute with a powerful shot seconds before Enoh saw red for his second yellow card of the match.