Ajax fought their way to a 2-0 win over promoted side Telstar as striker Wout Weghorst led the way with two goals.
With Brian Brobbey and Josip Sutalo out injured, Wout Weghorst and 17-year-old Aaron Bouwman were handed starts up front and in the back line.
Raul Moro made his official debut for Ajax on the left wing, whereas Oscar Gloukh started on the bench. Defender Ko Itakura, who arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach earlier in the week, was ineligible as he waits for his work permit.
Telstar, who played their first Eredivisie game since 1978, opted to start with five defenders and a front three, which included Milan Zonneveld and Patrick Brouwer, who arrived from amateur side Quick Boys during the summer.
Early danger
After Wout Weghorst narrowly missed a weighted cross from Raul Moro, the home side were lucky not to go down early when Milan Zonneveld squandered a massive opportunity following a mistake from Aaron Bouwman.
After Youri Baas became the hero with a life-saving block, the following corner nearly saw Telstar score again as Patrick Brouwer saw one effort get blocked and the other hit the post via Wout Weghorst.
An eventful first half was broken open by Weghorst, who received a deep ball from Steven Berghuis and escaped from the back of Guus Offerhaus to go one-on-one with Ronald Koeman Jr. and cleanly finish the chance for the 1-0.
Ajax got eerily close to the 2-0 several times following Weghorst's goal, but after Steven Berghuis failed to score with a header, Bertrand Traore squandered a first huge chance for Ajax as he could not decide whether to shoot or lay it off to Raul Moro, and instead saw Koeman interfere.
Moro got in an identical situation minutes after, but the Spaniard could not convert either after his pass to Traore in front of goal was intercepted by Tyrese Noslin.
As Telstar, too, found some space in the dying stages of the first half, Soufiane Hetli got one last chance, but saw his effort go wide.
Telstar remain active
Liverpool loanee Viteszlav Jaros proved his worth early in the second half when the Czech parried a powerful header from Zonneveld. Jaros did the same fifteen minutes later, when Zonneveld tested the stopper with a low shot, but could not surprise him enough.
Running out of energy, Telstar had to resort to defending and nearly saw substitute Mika Godts score the second Ajax goal, but the Belgian winger found Koeman on his way. Kenneth Taylor's effort in the 72nd minute met the same fate as Koeman saved the midfielder's attempt with his head.
Ajax's long wait for the second goal came to an end in the 83rd minute as Steven Berghuis and Wout Weghorst connected again, this time during a corner, giving Ajax a 2-0 lead.
With no further chances for either side, Ajax reeled in the 2-0 win as they struggled their way to victory in their season opener. The Amsterdam giants will visit Go Ahead Eagles in Deventer next week, when kick-off is scheduled for 12.15 on Sunday, August 17th.
Telstar continue their first Eredivisie season in nearly 50 years with a home game against PEC Zwolle on Friday, August 15th.