Relegation-threatened NAC Breda desperately needed a win, with their last 19 league games yielding just two three-pointers. Meanwhile, Ajax needed all the points they could get their hands on after falling four points behind Feyenoord in the fight for second place, which grants direct qualification for next year's UEFA Champions League.
NAC and Ajax exchanged early attempts, with Wout Weghorst and NAC's Charles-Andreas Brym and Max Balard aiming and failing to get the scoring going in the opening 15 minutes.
It took Ajax 20 minutes to break the deadlock - Steven Berghuis launched Mika Godts with a deep ball, after which the Belgian dribbled into the box and laid ot off to Oscar Gloukh on the other side of Bielica's goal. The midfielder slotted it home in the left corner to score his first Eredivisie goal since early January.
A touch of unique brilliance earned Ajax a two-goal lead shortly before half-time - Mika Godts received the ball near the halfway line and embarked on an adventure deep into NAC territory. The Belgian winger took on all of Clint Leemans, Raul Paula, Fredrik Oldrup Jensen, and Leemans again in the box before swinging past Bielica and capping off a wonderful solo effort with a simple tap-in.
Paula and Mohamed Nassoh tested Indonesian stopper Maarten Paes shortly after the break, but were held from scoring by the former Dallas goalkeeper with two strong reflexes.
Paes stepped up again when Kamal Sowah fired at the Indonesian's goal, which the 'keeper expertly parried away for a corner. Polish counterpart Daniel Bielica showed his quality next, keeping Godts from scoring a second with a smart save in the 78th minute.
A rather uneventful second half, which almost traditionally saw Ajax create next to nothing as the Amsterdam giants barely got off their own half, saw its biggest chance in the 87th minute, when Ghanaian icon André Ayew tipped a cross just wide of Paes' goal.
Ajax managed to keep it rather uneventful on their own half as well, as Rayane Bounida hit the post in the dying minutes to keep the score at 2-0. Interim manager Óscar García's men won their second game in a month and a half to stay in the battle for second.