Ajax advance to next qualifying round in Europa League; Go Ahead Eagles knocked out

Ajax has advanced to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. The club won both matches against FK Vojvodina, winning the away match 1-3 on Thursday. The Amsterdammers also beat the Serbian club last week. It finished 1-0 in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.

Josip Sutalo opened the scoring for Ajax in the 53rd minute. However, the Croat scored an own goal five minutes later when he tried to block Lazar Nikolic’s shot. Jorrell Hato scored the second goal in the 85th minute for the away side. Substitute Bertrand Traore, who is back at Ajax after leaving seven years ago, decided the final score in injury time.

Ajax will face Panathinaikos in the next round. The Greek club will host Ajax next Thursday in Athens. The return leg is planned a week later in Amsterdam.

Unlike Ajax, Go Ahead Eagles’s European adventure fell at the first hurdle. The club from Deventer lost 2-1 to SK Brann from Norway in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League. The home match in the Adelaarshorst had finished 0-0 a week earlier.

Go Ahead Eagles took the lead quickly after the kick-off against the third-placed team in the Norwegian league through Søren Tengstedt. But a defensive error ensured that Brann leveled the game right before halftime. Bård Finne converted the chance for the Norwegians.

Brann scored the winning goal in the 61st minute when Fredrik Knudsen headed home from a corner.