Ajax narrowly beat Cambuur tonight. It became 2-3 in Leeuwarden. Just like against RKC, the team from Amsterdam took a 2-0 lead in the first half, but this margin disappeared after the break and the home team equalized. Ryan Gravenberch gave the national champion the three points in injury time with a cannon cone.
Trainer Erik ten Hag had changed his team in three places compared to the home match against RKC Waalwijk. Davy Klaassen replaced Mexican Edson Álvarez, who was absent due to illness. Noussair Mazraoui returned from injury and Nico Tagliafico was kicked off in place of the suspended Lisandro Martínez.
Immediately hit
At Ajax’s first big chance, it was immediately hit. Dusan Tadic shoved the ball to the right behind Pieter Bos after 3 minutes, who replaced the injured keeper Sonny Stevens: 0-1. The team from Amsterdam dominated the first half. Sébastien Haller missed a huge header chance.
A foul by Tom Boere on Tagliafico was reason enough for the VAR to check the images; the former Ajax player was penalized with a yellow card. Boere also got the first chance for the home side. Perr Schuurs was able to tackle the striker before he could lash out. After Haller’s second missed chance, he was still able to cheer. Ryan Gravenberch gave the pass, after which the Ajax striker shot in cold-blooded.
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Erik ten Hag about the win in the absolute final phase at Cambuur – NH Nieuws
So there seemed to be no problem for the team from Amsterdam, but Cambuur came back unexpectedly strong after the break. Issa Kallon shot the ball in the 48th minute from a corner behind Andre Onana: 1-2. Ajax could do nothing against this, after which the home team smelled blood. Onana turned a header from Mitchell Paulissen. The Ajax players were no longer a shadow of the dominant team in the first half.
Cannonball Gravenberch
In the 79th minute, Paulissen took advantage of a foul pass from Tagliafico. The pass ended up with substitute Patrick Joosten who scored the equalizer. A stunt by Cambuur, which was wiped out 9-0 in the Arena, seemed in the making. Ryan Gravenberch decided otherwise. The midfielder fired a cannonball in stoppage time that hit the ropes through the inside of the post. With that, he still managed to get the three points out of the fire for Ajax, where Brian Brobbey made his comeback in the final minutes.
Watch Gravenberch’s stunning goal below:
As a result, Ajax remains the leader with five points ahead of PSV, which will visit FC Utrecht on Sunday. Next Tuesday, the team from Amsterdam will play at home against Benfica for the Champions League.
Ajax setup: Onana; Mazraoui (Rensch/62), Schuurs (Timber/74), Tagliafico (Brobbey/85), Blind; Gravenberch, Berghuis, Klaassen (Kudus/74); Antony, Haller, Tadic
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