Feyenoord pick up a massive win in Amsterdam against Ajax after a dramatic late winner
Feyenoord beat Ajax 2-3 in Amsterdam on Sunday. Lutsharel Geertruida scored a late winner to make the gap six points between the sides at the top of the table. Santiago Gimenez, Sebastian Szymanski, Dusan Tadic, and Edson Alvarez were the scorers before the goal.
Ajax started with Kenneth Taylor in the side ahead of Davy Klaassen, just like last week against Heerenveen. The Amsterdammers were missing Devyne Rensch, who was replaced by Jorge Sanchez.
Feyenoord silenced the sold-out Johan Cruijff arena after four minutes. Quilindschy Hartman crossed a ball to Santiago Gimenez, who rolled it home with Ajax defender Calvin Bassey in no man's land.
Ajax equalized in the 17th minute. Steven Berghuis put in a terrific corner against his old side for Edson Alvarez to head home.
Feyenoord manager Arne Slot was forced into a very early substitution after only a quarter of the match played. Hartman, who has only just recovered from an illness to play this match, was fortunate not to receive a second yellow after fouling Mohamed Kudus, having been booked earlier. Slot told backup left-back Marcos Lopez to warm up straight after the incident taking Hartman off a few minutes later.
Ajax took the lead near the end of the first half. Again, Berghuis was the architect with a long ball to Steven Bergwijn. The winger then laid the ball off to the onrushing Dusan Tadic, who rolled the ball into the far corner to send the Ajax faithful into raptures.
Feyenoord came out for the second half in a much stronger fashion than the hosts, and they took advantage of their period of dominance by equalizing after 52 minutes. Alireza Jahanbaksch made up for his man-marking mistake for Ajax's first goal by putting in a great low cross for Polish midfielder Sebastian Szymanski to side-foot home.
Ajax could not return to the form they found at the end of the first half but still should have taken the lead through Mohamed Kudus. Francisco Conceição crossed the ball to Davy Klaassen, who fumbled his shot, putting it on a plate for Kudus, but his attempt was saved spectacularly by Timon Wellenreuther, who proved his worth again as a stand-in for the injured Justin Bijlow.
And that save turned out to be vital as Feyenoord won the game a few minutes later. David Hancko headed on a corner onto the head of his central defensive partner Lutsarel Geertruida who only needed to aim his header into the net.
Feyenoord held on for the final minutes picking up a colossal victory in the title race. It was the Rotterdammer's first win in the Arena since 2005.
This tops off a magnificent week for Slot's side, who hammered Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday to progress in the UEFA Europa League. The Rotterdammers go into the international break with a six-point lead over Ajax.
