His Ajax colleague Frank de Boer was disappointed.
"At home we have to win all our matches," he said. "In the first half we lost the ball too much and looked very vulnerable. After the break we dared to put pressure and caused AZ trouble."
FC Twente thanked Marc Janko for their 4-0 victory at RKC Waalwijk. The Austrian striker scored three times (one penalty) with Wout Brama producing the other goal.
PSV booked a meager 1-0 win over FC Utrecht. Swedish international Ola Toivonen became match winner in the 71th minute. After a foul on Tim Matavz FC Utrecht defender Marcus Nilsson received a red card in the 80th minute.
PSV and FC Twente moved within two points of AZ Alkmaar, which leads the standings with 22 points after nine matches. Ajax remains six points behind the leaders.