New setback Ajax; low flyer Vitesse takes point in Amsterdam

The match against Vitesse was supposed to have taken place on October 29, but was moved to tonight due to Ajax’s European obligations. In its own Johan Cruijff Arena, Ajax started without Daley Blind and Brian Brobbey. Both players were on the reserve bench.

Despite the lack of the duo, Ajax started very energetically and the team of trainer Alfred Schreuder took the lead after five minutes. A cross from Steven Bergwijn from the right was tapped in by Dusan Tadic, just before Vitesse goalkeeper Daan Reiziger could reach the ball.

on the counter

Vitesse was waiting for the counterattack and after twenty minutes it was hit for the Arnhem team. The lightning-fast Million Manhoef took advantage of the space on the left wing and scored the equalizer from a difficult angle. Ajax then had plenty of opportunities in the remainder of the first half, including a shot on the post by Mohammed Kudus. In addition, the reigning national champion also frequently encountered goalkeeper Reiziger, so that it remained at 1-1 halfway through.

After the break, Ajax continued to dominate and got great opportunities. Kudus (shot over), Berghuis (bar) and also substitutes Francisco Conceição (header wide) and Blind (bar) failed to give Ajax the lead again. As time ran out, the public in Amsterdam became more and more nervous.

target man

Vitesse’s defense managed to hold on and Phillip Cocu’s team would even take the lead for a second time. Once again Manhoef was the end station of a rapid outbreak. The attacker made his second of the evening by shooting the ball into the far corner behind Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer. In the last fifteen minutes Schreuder brought the tall Lorenzo Lucca to force something. The target man hired from the Italian AC Pisa was on the field less than a minute before he made the 2-2 from a cross by Blind.

The refereed quartet was very generous in giving the stoppage time. To the surprise of many, no less than eight minutes were added. Despite the generous number of added minutes, Ajax got no further than a shot on Brobbey’s post. Due to the draw, Ajax fails to take over the lead in the Eredivisie from PSV. After thirteen rounds of play, Ajax has 29 points. The competitor from Eindhoven has one point more. This Saturday (6.45 pm) Ajax will visit FC Emmen for the last match of 2022.

Ajax setup: feather; Rensch (Sánchez/73), Timber, Bassey, Wijndal (Blind/59); Klaassen (Conceição/59), Taylor, Berghuis; Mountain wine (Lucca/75), Kudus (Brobbey/59), Tadic