Disappointment in the Johan Cruijff ArenA as Ajax draw against Fortuna Sittard

After two encouraging performances, Ajax suffered another major disappointment. The fifth-place side in the Eredivisie was stuck at a draw (2-2) in the home match against Fortuna Sittard on Sunday. Substitute Brian Brobbey saved a point for the home team in the final phase.

Ajax's fifth place in the Eredivisie is also in jeopardy. NEC can reduce the deficit to 1 point later on Sunday if they beat Heerenveen.

After two matches with FC Utrecht (2-0) and Aston Villa (0-0) without conceding a goal, Ajax wanted to do more offensively against Fortuna Sittard. It did not work. Manager John van 't Schip was also missing his three best attackers. Steven Bergwijn and Steven Berghuis are still injured. Brobbey needed a rest after a tough match against Aston Villa last Thursday.

Chuba Akpom replaced Brobbey. Ajax was playing at far too slow a pace and, therefore, did not get many chances, but Kenneth Taylor scored after eight minutes (1-0). The midfielder also shot at Michael Verrips from a promising position before the Fortuna goalkeeper stopped Akpom's effort. Ahmetcan Kaplan was also close to making it 2-0. But Fortuna defender Ivo Pinto managed to head the ball out of the goal.

Ajax initially did not run into problems defensively with central defenders Kaplan, Josip Sutalo, and Jorrel Hato, as well as controlling midfielders Jordan Henderson and Sivert Mannsverk. The first chance of the match was for Fortuna Sittard. Goalkeeper Diant Ramaj saved a shot by Kaj Sierhuis, who scored three goals and two assists against Excelsior last week (5-2).

Ajax's German goalkeeper was to blame for Deroy Duarte's equalizer in the 49th minute. Ramaj was surprised by a shot in the short corner. Van 't Schip took the equalizer as a reason to make an offensive change. He brought on the attackers Brobbey and Forbs and also brought on Branco van den Boomen. Mannsverk, Borna Sosa and Kristan Hlynsson were substituted.

Ajax immediately proved defensively vulnerable again with less than five defenders on the pitch. Sierhuis took advantage after accidentally getting the ball at his feet through Kaplan's body. Brobbey first missed a massive opportunity with his head. However, Ajax's top scorer for the season redeemed this by scoring in the 88th minute.