A new low point in the history of The Classic. The match in the KNVB Cup between Ajax and Feyenoord was halted for half an hour tonight after Davy Klaassen was injured at the back of his head. Both teams wanted to continue playing after this incident, it ended in 2-1. PSV is the opponent in the cup final on April 30.
After sixty minutes the game was stopped after an incident with Ajax player Klaassen. At the sidelines, Orkun Kökcü and Dusan Tadic clashed. A commotion ensued, after which Klaassen went to the ground. He had a head wound with a lot of blood from a lighter. Referee Allard Lindhout decided to stop the match. After a half-hour break, the game continued. Klaassen eventually had to be replaced, because he was suffering too much from his head injury.
It was the second time that the match was stopped by the referee. Fireworks nuisance was the culprit after 36 seconds, then the game had been stopped for a few minutes. Dusan Tadic took the lead after fifteen minutes. Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Marcus Pedersen ran into each other. Tadic was free and shot in: 0-1. Moments before, Santiago Giménez had already had a chance to score the opening goal, but goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli stopped it.
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As the first half progressed, Feyenoord grew more and more into the game. Jahanbakhsh had a huge chance to equalize. He was able to shoot for an open goal from a cross by Quilindschy Hartman. The shot hit the post and over Edson Álvarez over the sideline. A long throw in by Marcus Pedersen was extended moments later by Mats Wieffer. Again Rulli was able to turn the ball. That was not the case in the injury time of the first half. Jahanbakhsh gave a fine cross and Giménez hit hard: 1-1.
Soon after the break, Klaassen made it 2-1. Steven Bergwijn and Tadic missed, allowing the midfielder to tap the ball in via Gernot Trauner. After the break, the team from Rotterdam had the best chances. Giménez, for example, shot wildly over and the Mexican also headed on the post. In the final phase, there was less and less football, because the game was still a lot. Kenneth Taylor got his second yellow card and had to take a shower early. The ten of Ajax held out.
PSV will be the opponent in the final on April 30. That was also the case last year. Ajax lost that match 2-1. The team from Amsterdam was also in the cup final against Vitesse in 2021. At the time, Ajax won 2-1 through a late goal from David Neres.
Setup Ajax: Rulli; Sánchez, Álvarez, Timber, Baas (Hato/74); Taylor, Berghuis (Bassey/74), Klaassen (Brobbey/66); Kudus (Conceicao/61), Tadic, Bergwijn