A promising opening 30 minutes showcased Ajax's creative and attacking intentions in sunny Utrecht, as the team dominated possession and hit the woodwork twice early on. However, Sebastien Haller's opener seemed to disrupt the team's plan completely.
"At one point in the first half, we had an 80% ball possession," said Farioli. "We hit the post and the crossbar, and Utrecht needed six goal attempts for four goals. We knew they could switch play quickly and have good wingers, but still they were able to hurt us, especially after half-time."
Ajax will have to wait four days before knowing the damage Sunday's defeat - the biggest to FC Utrecht in club history - will do to the 9-point lead the league leaders have over PSV, who visit FC Twente on Thursday night.
However, the Italian gaffer refuses to shoot into panic mode. "Of course, this is a painful defeat, but it is also our first defeat in 14 league games. We have to keep that in mind. We are not going to do strange things either. We have been moving from game to game all season. Now we are focusing on the next game against Sparta Rotterdam.
"Everything seemed to fall the wrong way for us," Farioli continued. "This was our biggest defeat, but we certainly didn't play our worst game of the season. We have to be very aware of that too."
'You can't always win'
Midfielder Kenneth Taylor acknowledged the heavy defeat, but like his coach, refused to keep his head down. "I believe we still have a 9-point lead over PSV. And if PSV win at FC Twente on Thursday, we'll still have a 6-point margin," said Taylor.
"But I'd rather not look at other teams at all. We've lived from game to game this whole season. We do that after a good win, and we do that now as well."
Ajax played one of this weekend's two Eredivisie games. The game between the league leaders and FC Utrecht was brought forward due to police capacity for game week 31 in two weeks when this game was supposed to be played.
With four games remaining in the season, Ajax only need 7 points from the home games against Sparta Rotterdam, NEC Nijmegen, and FC Twente, and the away game at FC Groningen to win a 37th league title. Midfield talisman Taylor will take some positives from Sunday's game: "We played very well in the first half. Maybe we created too few chances. We deservedly lost in the end, but I thought it was an exaggerated scoreline."