Ajax knew what was asked of them after all other teams from the Eredivisie's top 6 dropped points earlier in the weekend and the Amsterdam side delivered with a 2-0 win away at Heerenveen.
The win meant Ajax moved to within one point of league leaders PSV, but Italian boss Francesco Farioli stayed calm amidst the battle for the title. "Nothing changed for us, we need to collect as much points as we can.
“Our motivation is the next game and the next ones we have are two important European matches"
The 35-year-old was mostly happy with the attitude of his team. "We wanted to win today, I think the players showed an incredible attitude.
"We had moments of very good football and the capacity to suffer when it was the moment to suffer.
"Really big congratulations to them. One more victory in the pocket, one more clean sheet - the ninth in 19 games - it's the best defense in the league.
"We go ahead.”
Brilliant Ajax
Ajax won last week when rivals PSV dropped points against AZ and now did so again. The Amsterdam side rebounded well from a cup defeat against AZ (2-0) and were "brilliant" according to the manager.
“I think the game today was brilliant. The first 30 minutes we have very good moments.
"We had the opportunity to score two three goals, we were creating a lot of chances, we were very aggressive in the pressure, we recovered a tremendous amount of balls in the opposite half.
"We score four goals in the end in a place where so far nobody has won. They conceded just four goals in their previous nine matches so I think we have to be happy”
Transfer rumours
Besides the joy from the win, Farioli had to deal with some transfer rumours after the game.
Asked whether or not the club was looking past desired transfer target Raul Moro, who recently suffered a serious injury, Farioli deferred the questions to the higher-ups.
"I'm not the person you should ask. We have our directors, theyt know exactly what I think and what I think this team needs to take it foward.
"My message and the needs for this team in the short term, but also the medium and long term, are very clear. The rest are not my duties.
"I work with the players, with the guys to keep everybody here. I try to help this club to move forward in a journey that is still very long."
Right-back Devyne Rensch is being heavily linked with a move to AS Roma and was left out of the starting eleven by Farioli.
The Italian manager said they had to close down the airport in order to keep Rensch with the club. With a lack of incoming transfers, Farioli gave his saying his own spin afterwards.
"It looks like it's open in one direction and closed in the other."