The team from Amsterdam did not get over that bad restart, so that Roger Schmidt will end his Eindhoven period with at least two prizes. At the start of the season, PSV was already too strong for Ajax in the battle for the Johan Cruijff Scale. PSV also duels with Ajax for the national title, but faces a four-point deficit.
It was the fourth time that both teams met in the final of the KNVB Cup and the previous three times Ajax had been the strongest. Ten Hag’s team had the advantage of a calm run-up in this final, where PSV had played in the Conference League against Leicester City on Thursday and had gone quite deep and suffered a major disappointment.
Goalkeeper soap
,,But if you can play in such a final, it also gives new energy”, thought PSV coach Roger Schmidt beforehand. Philipp Max, who had a hard time on Thursday, was fit enough to kick off, meaning PSV played with the same team as against Leicester City. Schmidt’s hopes that Armando Obispo and Noni Madueke could still be groomed for a substitute turned out to have been vain.
Klaassen in duel with Ramalho
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PSV started the final with enthusiasm and the first shot on goal was from Eindhoven captain Cody Gakpo. His shot was easy prey for Maarten Stekelenburg. The 39-year-old goalie was under the bar at Ajax for the first time since the end of August. A groin injury had kept him sidelined all those months. At first Stekelenburg was replaced with verve by Remko Pasveer, but after he broke a finger, André Onana returned from a doping suspension. But he spoiled it in recent weeks with a series of goalkeeper mistakes and a nonchalant attitude, as a result of which Ten Hag has fallen back on the just recovered Stekelenburg for the cup final and the rest of the season.
Ajax in the lead
The experienced goalie didn’t get too much to do in the first half, because after an energetic start by PSV, Ajax took matters into their own hands. The reigning cup holder dictated the game and managed to become menacing, often involving Brian Brobbey. The striker hired from RB Leipzig in January was preferred over Sébastien Haller, because he has more threat in depth in his game and Ten Hag thought that PSV could be hurt with that.
In the 23rd minute Ajax took the lead. Ryan Gravenberch slalomed well through the Ajax defence, with Danny Makkelie making good use of the advantage regulation in case of a foul on the midfielder, who partly because of this came into a promising position and left PSV goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo without a chance (0-1).
Gravenberch celebrates the 1-0.
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Offside goals
Ajax was happy with Makkelie and that was different just before, when Dusan Tadic went down in the penalty area in a duel with Joey Veerman. Where Ajax screamed for a penalty, Makkelie was adamant and VAR Dennis Higler also did not come on the line, because it was not a one hundred percent clear situation.
The dominance and the better chances remained for Ajax. PSV did come under the pressure from time to time, but that did not produce very great opportunities, except for a goal by Eran Zahavi, which was rejected due to offside. That fate also struck Ajax’s 0-2 just before half-time. Noussair Mazraoui shot the ball into the goal out of Mvogo’s reach, but Higler and his team saw that Dusan Tadic had been just offside in the attack a little earlier.
Upside down
That decision turned out to be extra crucial because of the way PSV came out of the dressing room after the break. Schmidt’s exasperated team turned the game completely upside down in five minutes. First Erick Gutierrez headed in after Ibrahim Sangaré had extended a free kick from Gakpo with the head (1-1).
Erick Gutierez fumbles in the 1-1.
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And from the kick-off, Gakpo even gave the Eindhoven team a 2-1 lead. Lisandro Martinez lost the ball carelessly in the build-up, after which Gakpo was able to steam up and left Stekelenburg without a chance from edge sixteen (2-1). De Kuip was completely turned upside down and the PSV crowd in the stands danced and sang with joy.
fatigues
That joy seemed short-lived, because soon after the 2-1 Davy Klaassen seemed to equalize, but again intervention by the VAR followed, which drew a line through the goal due to a narrow offside by Brobbey. Ajax had to hunt for the equalizer again and the post stood in the way of Tadic’s success.
At PSV last Thursday’s fatigues started to take its toll, after which Schmidt decided to exchange Veerman and Gakpo for Bruma and Ritsu Doan. Ajax’s stampede had slowed down a bit, but PSV again escaped the equalizer when Mvogo made a clever save on a bet by Perr Schuurs. He had just come on for Edson Alvarez, while Haller had been brought in by Ten Hag for Mazraoui.
Big party
PSV held up well, with the masterful play of midfielders Sangaré and Gutierrez particularly striking. Both won duels on the assembly line and Sangaré in particular managed to squeeze his long leg legs in between.
Because substitutes Bruma and Yorbe Vertessen were unable to capitalize on great opportunities for Stekelenburg’s goal and thus failed to close the game, it remained exciting until the last minute. Vertessen even hit the post after a good individual action. But Ajax was no longer able to really make a fist. The introduction of ex-PSV player Mohamed Ihattaren, who was welcomed with a whistle by the Eindhoven fans, did not change that, so that the PSV supporters could celebrate a big party because of the win of the tenth KNVB cup in club history. and the first since 2012. A triumph that is extra beautiful from Eindhoven’s perspective, because the big rival was defeated in the final, and which may also give Schmidt’s team an impulse in the remainder of the title race.