Ajax beaten by AZ Alkmaar; Utrecht climb back up to 2nd in Eredivisie table
Ajax were beaten 2-1 by AZ Alkmaar on Sunday. Goals from Troy Parrot and Mayckel Lahdo were enough to give Maarten Martens’ team the win in the AFAS stadium in Alkmaar despite a goal from Mika Godts in the 81st minute.
AZ came closest to the opening goal in the first half. A shot from Ruben van Bommel struck the post in the 33rd minute.
The match was quite physical. Wout Weghorst and Anton Gaaei both lost their heads briefly in the first half. Gaaei came in with a dangerous slide tackle from behind on Van Bommel after the two had had a short exchange of words a while earlier.
Ajax were not at it, and AZ was creating all the danger in Alkmaar as they hit the post again in the 54th minute. Again, it was Van Bommel who hit one from outside the area, which hit the post before coming back to him on the wing.
Martens’ team finally got their goal in the 65th minute. A low cross into the box was swept home at the near post by AZ’s Irish striker Troy Parrot.
A corner ten minutes later led to AZ’s second goal of the game. It was Mayckel Lahdo who had bet on the ball going over Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer, which gave him an easy chance to head home.
Mika Godts got a goal back for Ajax after his return from injury in the 82nd minute, but this did not lead to an equalizer.
The defeat meant that Ajax dropped to third in the Eredivisie league table. They were overtaken by FC Utrecht, who beat Almere City 1-3. Mike van der Hoorn, Zidane Iqbal, and Noah Ohio got the goals for Ron Jans’ side.
