Ajax beat Jagiellonia Bialystok 3-0 to advance to the main stage of the Europa League
Ajax beat Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok 3-0 in the Johan Cruijff ArenA in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League play-off on Thursday to advance to the main stage of the competition. Kian Fitz-Jim, Kenneth Taylor, and Brian Brobbey got the goals for Francesco Farioli's side in a comfortable win.
Ajax started the match without their creative midfielder Steven Berghuis, who will miss four weeks due to an injury. Steven Bergwijn started the match on the left wing. Ajax knew they already had a three goal lead coming into the match as they had won the first leg 4-1 in Poland.
As was the case last week, it was clear that Ajax is a level above Jagiellonia. The Polish side did not complete a pass in their opponent's half for the first 20 minutes.
Despite this, the away side was giving their all defensively, which resulted in Ajax struggling to create opportunities.
A brilliant Ajax attack should have resulted in the match's first goal in the 38th minute. Quick, sharp passing from the Amsterdammers led to Bergwijn being given a significant chance after a clever backheel from Kenneth Taylor. Still, the winger hit his shot at Max Stryjek in the Bialystok goal.
Ajax were awarded for their dominance two minutes before halftime. Nene lost the ball in midfield, which gave the home side the chance to counterattack. Bergwijn dribbled before passing the ball on to Kian Fitz-Jim, who rolled it into the net via the inside of the post.
Farioli's side made it 2-0 in the 64th minute with a well-worked goal. Brian Brobbey received the ball and passed it on perfectly to Jordan Henderson, who was one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Instead of shooting, he had spotted his fellow midfielder Taylor coming forward with him and laid it off for Taylor to slide the ball into the empty net.
The 3-0 was scored with just under 20 minutes to go. Taylor took the ball in his stride to the byline, where he played it to Brobbey, who guided it into the net with his body.
Brobbey almost got an assist in addition to his goal in the 76th minute. The striker played the ball across the box to Bertrand Traore, whose curler had struck the post.
The atmosphere in the Johan Cruijff ArenA was fantastic as Ajax comfortably strolled to victory. They will find out their eight opponents in the Europa League in the draw on Friday, which takes place at 12:30 p.m.
