John van 't Schip wins his second match in a row as Ajax manager
John van 't Schip has won his first two matches as Ajax manager. The Amsterdammers beat Heerenveen 4-1 in the Johan Cruijff Arena on Sunday with goals from Steven Bergwijn, Brian Brobbey and a double from Chuba Akpom. They had already beaten FC Volendam on Thursday in the manager's first game.
Van 't Schip named an unchanged side from his first lineup as Ajax manager against Volendam. Ar'jany Martha was picked at left-back again after making his debut before going off with cramp. Heerenveen were boosted with the return of their topscorer Osame Sahraoui.
Manager Kees van Wonderen's side did not fear Ajax and attacked the home side in the opening stages. They should have taken the lead through Pelle van Amersfoort. Luuk Brouwers crossed the ball to the striker, whose effort from six yards out was blocked by Josip Sutalo before van Amersfoort failed to convert the rebound.
Ajax took the lead against the run of play after 24 minutes played. Steven Berghuis crossed the ball to the far post, where the captain, Steven Bergwijn, got just about enough contact on the ball to steer it past Andries Noppert in the Heerenveen goal.
The lead was doubled after 41 minutes played due to another great cross. This time, Branco van den Boomen showed his technique by putting the ball perfectly onto the head of Brian Brobbey, who headed home.
Brouwers showed that he also has a quality heading technique when he headed the ball brilliantly into the far corner from a cross by right-back Oliver Braude to reduce the lead to one goal.
Heerenveen hit the post after 79 minutes. Substitute Hussein Ali crossed the ball for Sahraoui, whose side-footed effort hit the inside of the post before coming out to Brouwers, who gave Sahraoui a second chance. Still, the Norwegian winger missed again, hitting his shot wide on this occasion.
English striker Chuba Akpom came on and got his second goal in two matches for van 't Schip. The 28-year-old made a decoy run for Berghuis to run into, which resulted in a shot from the midfielder being punched out by Noppert to Akpom, who nodded the ball home.
It got even better for the striker in injury time when he got his second of the match and his third for Ajax. Again, Berghuis created the goal by finding Akpom in the six-yard box, where he only had to place the ball into the net.
Ajax will play their third home match in a row on Thursday against Brighton in the UEFA Europa League before facing Almere City away on Sunday. The record Eredivisie champions are now 11th. Heerenveen face relegation candidates Vitesse away next weekend.
