The Egyptian striker, who partnered Morocco's Mounir El Hamdaoui upfront due to the absence of Uruguayan banned frontman Luis Suarez, atoned for a host of wasted chances to put Ajax in front in the 76th minute.

After NEC squandered a golden opportunity to grab the lead, Ajax immediately punished them with a neatly-worked counter attack.

Lively Serbian winger Miralem Sulejmani broke down the right and whipped in a pinpoint cross with the outside of his left foot and Mido made the most of it to head home at the far post.

His joy was short-lived though as Bram Nuytinck brought NEC level two minutes later.

Nuytinck pounced on a loose ball after Ajax defenders blocked a shot to send a right-footed volley past Ajax keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

Ajax coach Martin Jol surprisingly opted to replace Mido with Siem de Jong shortly afterwards as NEC hung on for a valuable draw.

Mido has taken his tally to three goals since joining Ajax on a season-long loan from English second-division side Middlesbrough in the close season.

The former Tottenham Hotspur man scored in Ajax's 3-0 Dutch Cup victory over Veendam and the 1-0 league win over VVV-Venlo.

The draw left Ajax, who last won the league title in 2004, in fourth place with 32 points from 17 games, two behind leaders PSV Eindhoven who face Heracles Almelo later in the day.