Ajax hammer Vitesse (5-0) and climb to eighth place

Ajax picked up their biggest victory of the season in the Eredivisie on Saturday in the Johan Cruijff Arena. John van ’t Schip’s side beat Vitesse 5-0. Ajax climbed to eighth place because of the win.

Edward Sturing was managing his first match for Vitesse. The ex-Vitesse player is the replacement for Phillip Cocu, who was sacked.

Chuba Akpom was given his second start at Ajax. The Englishman replaced Brian Brobbey, who injured himself in the last league match against Almere City, causing him to miss Oranje’s fixtures against the Republic of Ireland and Gibraltar. Steven Bergwijn also made himself unavailable to national team manager Ronald Koeman, but the forward was ready to play against Vitesse. Defender Josip Sutalo returned from international duty with Croatia carrying an injury and missed the match.

Jorrel Hato opened the scoring after three minutes with his first goal for Ajax. The 17-year-old defender started the attack before firing the ball home from a cross by Steven Bergwijn. It was the cherry on top of an excellent week for Hato. The Rotterdammer made his debut for the national side on Tuesday.

Vitesse thought they had leveled quickly after a beautiful strike by Said Hamulic, but it was disallowed for offside.

Ajax were combining with ease and causing a lot of danger. Kenneth Taylor set up Kristian Hlynsson after a through ball by Benjamin Tahirovic found the midfielder:2-0. Vitesse did not offer much in return for a long time. Amine Boutrah shot into the side netting in injury time of the first half.

The home side extended their lead after halftime. Defender Dominik Oroz scored an own goal after a battle with Chuba Akpom in the 50th minute. Akpom got himself on the scoresheet later on. The striker headed home from a corner by Steven Berghuis. Goalkeeper Eloy Room did not look convincing on the goal. Berghuis also gave Kenneth Taylor the assist for the 5-0 halfway through the second half.

Ajax manager John van ’t Schip is still unbeaten in the Eredivisie with 10 points in four games. There is an away match against Olympique Marseille on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League. Ajax is bottom with 2 points and seems to have no chance of making the next round. They can continue in the Conference League by finishing third.