Young Ajax has lost to FC Utrecht’s promises. At Sportpark De Toekomst, the runners-up of the first division won 2-1. The visitors ended the match with ten men after a red card for Yuya Ikeshita.
The clash of promises between Ajax and FC Utrecht had a lively opening phase. Gabriel Misehouy’s shot went just over and Eliano Reijnders was able to take a free swing. His bet was turned by Tom de Graaff. Lorenzo Lucca, who was allowed to start in the rush hour, also had a good opportunity. The tall Italian was played free by Jorrel Hato, but Calvin Raatsie stopped the ball. As exciting as the opening phase was, the game then collapsed so hard.
The pace of both teams was a lot lower and many careless mistakes. Ajax didn’t get any further than a well-aimed free kick from Kristian Hlynsson. The venom of the first half turned out to be in the tail. Utrecht player Christopher Mamengi towered above all Ajax defenders from a corner kick and he hit hard: 0-1. This score did not remain on the scoreboard for very long, as Hlynsson quickly equalized. The Icelander hit behind Raatsie.
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In the initial phase of the second half, Utrecht was more dangerous in the attack. A shot by Lynden Edhart went just over and a mistake by De Graaff was not penalized either. Captain Yuya Ikeshita had the best chance for the team from Utrecht, but shot high over. Via Mees Rijks, the Utrecht reserves took the lead again in the 69th minute: 1-2. Young Ajax did not stop there and went looking for the equalizer under the shouts of young spectators.
Final offensive not enough
It paid off. Donny Warmerdam was able to head in freely from a corner, but again found Raatsie on his way. Moments later, a free kick from Christian Rasmussen went just wide. Ikeshita was sent off in the final phase after a foul in midfield. A final offensive by the Young Ajax players followed, but the team got no further.
Due to the defeat, Ajax drops to eleventh place. Telstar has taken over its place in the ranking. Jong PSV will be the last opponent of 2022 on Thursday.
Young Ajax line-up: DeGraff; Gooijer (Banel/60), Aertssen, Warmerdam (Viereck/87), Hato; Vos, Fitz-Jim, Hlynsson; Rasmussen, Lucca (Martha/69), Misehouy (Hansen/60)