Sunday's action saw 24 goals spread over five matches, Heerenveen's 4-2 win against visitors Groningen arguably the most entertaining fixture.
It did not take long for proceedings to get lively as Timo Letschert received a straight red card in the 11th minute for a tackle on Luciano Slagveer, but Mitchel Dijks soon levelled the numbers up as he brought down Giliano Wijnaldum in the penalty area.
Nick van der Velden converted the resulting spot-kick, but Yannick Wildschut hit back and Heerenveen had the lead 10 minutes into the second half when Kenneth Otigba scored.
There was still time for Groningen to respond and Johan Kappelhoff levelled within a minute via a deflected strike before Alfred Finnbogason's late brace earned victory for the hosts.
The highly-rated forward buried the match's second penalty and added his eighth goal from six league games in the 90th minute.
AZ's win over Go Ahead Eagles was rather more straightforward yet they still left it late to make the game safe and move up to 10 points.
Aron Johannsson broke the deadlock 31 minutes in after being brought down in the penalty area, but Gert Verbeek's side had to wait until the last minute before they found the net again.
Viktor Elm made it two for Alkmaar, allowing them to finally relax, and Steven Berghuis grabbed the third with the final kick of the match.
One of the more surprising results of the weekend saw NAC Breda pick up their first victory of the season in remarkable fashion with a 5-1 win at Roda.
After Kees Kwakman equalised in the 45th minute, Elson Hooi and Mats Seuntjes struck in quick succession to put Breda in the driving seat before Stipe Perica and Jeffrey Sarpong added further goals in the final five minutes.
The third six-goal game of the day saw Feyenoord rescue a draw in second-half stoppage time away to NEC.
A double from Samuel Stefanik looked to have given the hosts three points, but Bruno Martins Indi made it 3-3 in the final moments.
Utrecht and RKC Waalwijk played out a comparatively quiet affair at Stadion Galgenwaard, the hosts gaining a 2-1 win following a first-half brace from Steve de Ridder.
