Ajax went back to the top of the standings on goal difference from champions PSV Eindhoven with three games each left to play.
Arek Milik’s last-minute penalty rescued the point for Ajax who were 2-0 down with four minutes to play, securing what might prove to be a decisive point in their bid to win a fifth championship in six years.
By their own admission, however, they were given a major break by being awarded a spot-kick when Polish international Milik went down.
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“In my eyes it was no penalty,” Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen said.
“Arek was touched but I didn’t think it was a penalty. We should have played 10 times better but sometimes you get lucky. We now have some anxious weeks ahead.”
Klaassen had brought the score back to 2-1 in the 86th minute after Utrecht had netted through Nacer Barazite in the 56th minute and Patrick Johnson.
Ajax have had the upper hand in the title race with a goal difference of plus 54, six better than PSV.
ADO Den Haag won 2-0 away at Willem II Tilburg while NEC Nijmegen’s 2-1 victory kept SC Cambuur bottom of the table.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ed Osmond)
