After an extremely difficult match in Groningen, Ajax can again add three points to the Eredivisie. The leader won 3-1 against FC Groningen. The team from Amsterdam scored three times in injury time (two in the first and one in the second half). In the past two seasons, the away game in the north has been lost.
Actually, the team of trainer Erik ten Hag did not do anything right in the first company. Still, it was at the halfway mark on a 2-1 lead. FC Groningen also started weak, but got wings after Jørgen Strand Larsen’s 1-0 in the twentieth minute. The striker scored with a diagonal shot. However, his commitment seemed tenable for the insecure-looking Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Two goals just before half time
After that goal, Groningen had several opportunities to make the second. Ajax, on the other hand, could not make a fist and lost the ball. It therefore looked as if the leader of the list would visit the dressing room with a backlog. Nothing turned out to be less true, because suddenly Dusan Tadic found the detached Davy Klaassen. The attacking midfielder put Ajax next to FC Groningen with a volley.
At that time, 46 minutes had already been played. Referee Bas Nijhuis had indicated that three minutes would be added, so that Ajax started looking for more. First, Mohammed Kudus, who replaced Edson Álvarez, was given a dot of a chance. His shot from close range was cracked, but a few seconds later Damil Dankerlui made a handball into the penalty area. Nijhuis missed it and whistled for the break. After intervention by the VAR, he also saw that it was a penalty. Captain Dusan Tadic then made no mistake: 1-2.
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Defense Ajax stands firm
It was mainly stopping for Ajax in the second half. In the counter-punch, the North Hollanders occasionally became dangerous, but Kudus and Steven Berghuis did not hit the ball cleanly. The northerners also struggled to create opportunities. Onana was tested once by a header from Strand Larsen. When the forces flowed away at the home club, Berghuis struck. After a pass from substitute Brobbey, he simply shot in.
Due to the fourth win in a row, the gap with number two PSV remains at least two points. The people of Eindhoven will play an away game tonight with number four FC Twente.
Ajax setup: onana; Mazraoui, Timber, Schuurs, Blind (Tagliafico/72); Gravenberch, Kudus (Álvarez/61), Klaassen (Taylor/75); Berghuis, Haller (Brobbey/72), Tadic