For Vitesse, who had done much of the early running this season, it was a fifth game without success and they dropped to fourth, five points off the pace.
NEC Nijmegen and ADO Den Haag both moved off the bottom two places with invaluable away wins.
NEC came back from conceding an early goal to win 3-1 at RKC Waalwijk. Den Haag enjoyed a 1-0 victory to condemn Roda JC Kerkrade, who recently appointed Jon Dahl Tomasson as their new coach, to bottom place.
Mitchell Schet scored the only goal soon after halftime with Roda roundly jeered off the pitch by their fans at the final whistle.
"The disappointment was such that we deserved it," Roda captain Anouar Kali told reporters.
AZ Alkmaar missed out on a chance to move closer to the top five when they were held 1-1 at home by Utrecht.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Clare Lovell)
