Ajax has fought bravely against leader PSV. The team of coach John van ‘t Schip held the Eindhoven team to a 1-1 draw. Although there were fears of a major defeat, the number five in the Premier League put on a strong match.
In a packed Johan Cruijff Arena, Ajax supporters saw Jordan Henderson in action for the first time. The Englishman made his debut for the Amsterdam team and formed the midfield with Kristian Hlynsson and Kenneth Taylor. The Eindhoven team were missing strongmen Noa Lang, Guus Til, Malik Tilman, Ricardo Pepi and Joey Veerman.
PSV simply passed the ball around in the opening phase and Ajax was unable to do anything. However, the first serious chance after nine minutes was for the Amsterdam team, but Steven Berghuis fired a free kick over.
After that, Ajax was the parent and played frivolous football. Steven Bergwijn had a nice shooting opportunity, but hit the ball wrong.
Berghuis whim
What followed was an interesting spectacle between two teams with attacking intentions. The game went back and forth and in the 19th minute Ajax played out a counter perfectly. Brian Brobbey was put away with a nice pass from Berghuis. The Ajax striker actually played the ball too far ahead of him. He then saw Berghuis walk into space and he shot the 1-0 hard and low.
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The Arena turned into an attractive fortress. Ajax had things well in order and gave little away against the easy-scoring Eindhoven team. Ten minutes before half-time, PSV came alongside out of nowhere. Luuk de Jong neatly tapped in after a quick attack on the left side: 1-1. The atmosphere in the stadium quickly dropped and the fans saw Hirving Lozano’s long shot sail narrowly wide.
Ajax got off to a good start in the second half. Berghuis had two big chances in a row, but both shots were blocked. After that, the home team was under a lot of pressure from PSV for a long time. The Eindhoven team stepped up their game and pushed Ajax into reverse.
Chances of victory
Halfway through the second half, Ajax could breathe a sigh of relief twice. PSV striker Luuk de Jong headed against the crossbar from a corner kick and two minutes later a header from a cross went just wide.
Towards the end, Ajax perhaps had the greatest chances of victory. Brobbey had run off and shot wildly past. Then Taylor’s attempt flew over after Brian Brobbey put the ball on a silver platter for the midfielder. The same Taylor had a great chance in injury time, but PSV keeper Benitez saved the day.
AZ, Ajax’s direct competitor, will play against Feyenoord tomorrow at 2:30 PM. Ajax will visit SC Heerenveen next Sunday.
Ajax line-up: Ramaj; Rensch (Sosa/28), Sutalo, Hato, Gooijer (Gaaei/80); Henderson, Hlynsson, Taylor; Berghuis (Tahirovic/75), Brobbey, Bergwijn