Ajax officially won the national championship on Wednesday evening. The team from Amsterdam defeated sc Heerenveen 5-0 in the Johan Cruijff Arena, making the 36th title a fact. Nico Tagliafico, Steven Berghuis, Sébastien Haller, Brian Brobbey and Edson Álvarez were accurate in the championship game.
After an impressive minute of silence for the deceased Henk Groot and Jody Lukoki, fireworks were set off, causing the match to start later. It took a while before Ajax could break through the wall of Heerenveen. After nineteen minutes Nico Tagliafico joined in and shot the ball hard behind Erwin Mulder: 1-0. Noussair Mazraoui’s cross seemed to have been over the goal line, but the VAR still approved the goal.
Audience favorite Tagliafico was then loudly sung by the supporters. Mazraoui was close to Ajax’s second goal, he shot the ball straight from the air at the goal. Mulder turned out to be a bummer. Steven Berghuis scored the second goal of the evening.
Watch Tagliafico’s opening goal below. Text continues below the tweet.
Ajax on roses
After a good through ball from Dusan Tadic on Jurrien Timber, the defender found Berghuis. He could then simply tap the ball into the empty goal: 2-0. The evening became even easier for Ajax, after Ibrahim Drešević knocked Berghuis down in the penalty area. The penalty was then used by Sébastien Haller, who scored his first goal after six games without a goal. The last goal was in the Classic.
36th league title
The first big chance in the second half was for the team from Amsterdam. Berghuis was able to easily make his second after a great pass from Davy Klaassen, but shot high over the open goal. Mazraoui was then substituted and received a standing ovation from the crowd. He seems to be making the switch to Bayern Munich on a free transfer.
After a mediocre phase for both teams, Kenneth Taylor caused a bit of a rebound, but his shot went high. Maarten Stekelenburg saved a good shot from Haye in the counterpunch. Substitute Mo Kudus hit the bar. Brian Brobbey, who had also come on, made it 4-0. Edson Álvarez scored 5-0 in the last minute, making the evening even more beautiful.
The victory means that Ajax has become national champion for the 36th time in history. Trainer Erik ten Hag thus concludes his period with the team from Amsterdam with the title.
Ajax setup: Stekelenburg; Mazraoui (Rensch/56), Timber, Blind, Tagliafico; Álvarez, Klaassen (Kudus/68), Taylor (Reign/81), Berghuis; Haller (Brobbey/56), Tadic (Daramy/81)