Ajax take another step towards the title; Feyenoord struggle past Almere City
Ajax took another step towards winning the Eredivisie league title on Sunday by beating Go Ahead Eagles 2-0 in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Brian Brobbey and Oliver Edvardsen got the goals for Francesco Farioli’s side against the team from Deventer, who played just over 20 minutes with ten men after Gerrit Nauber was sent off.
The Amsterdammers are now five points clear of their nearest challengers, PSV, with 13 matches remaining in the Eredivisie season.
As is often the case under Farioli, Ajax's performance was not convincing. The Amsterdammers hardly registered a chance of note throughout the first half. A shot from Mika Godts, which went just wide of the goal from the edge of the area, was the closest they came.
This changed very quickly in the second half as Bertrand Traore missed an easy chance to make it 1-0 within the first minute. A mistake at the back of the Go Ahead Eagles defense resulted in the Burkina Faso international being gifted an easy chance to score, but his finish was well wide of the goal.
Whatever the Italian manager had said to his team at halftime had the desired effect as Kenneth Taylor also missed a huge chance to score a few minutes later. A good cross from Anton Gaaei found the midfielder completely unmarked in the six-yard box but he also failed to convert his attempt.
Ajax broke the deadlock in the 56th minute. A good run from Godts resulted in Brobbey sliding the ball in via Go Ahead Eagles keeper Jari De Busser to score his fourth Eredivisie goal of the season.
Paul Simonis’ task was made much harder when Gerrit Nauber was given a second yellow card by referee Joey Kooij for what the referee deemed to be a foul on Kian Fitz-Jim.
Godts was the source of Ajax’s danger on most occasions. He almost got himself on the scoresheet in the 69th minute, but his effort went out via the post.
The Johan Cruijff ArenA was silenced in the 83rd minute when it seemed like Go Ahead Eagles had equalized. A cross by Jakob Breum was headed into the goal by Julius Dirksen, but the goal was disallowed due to a handball.
The final score was decided in the 86th minute when Edvardsen made it 2-0 with a goal against his former club. Gaaei’s crossing proved to be a weapon once again. His low, hard drive found Edvardsen at the far post, who hit into the net.
Feyenoord needed an injury-time winner from David Hancko to give interim manager Pascal Bosschaart a win in his last match as Feyenoord manager. It was confirmed on Sunday afternoon that former player Robin van Persie is Feyenoord’s new manager.
The Rotterdammers had to come back from a goal down after Rubin Providence back-heeled the ball into the net after just six minutes, giving the lowest-placed team in the Eredivisie the lead.
Almere even hit the crossbar while 1-0 up with an incredible effort from Hamdi Akujobi, but Feyenoord equalized in the 33rd minute. Julian Carranza, the team’s hero in Milan on Tuesday when they knocked out AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League, scored again to level the game.
Feyenoord got the winner in the 91st minute. A high cross from Givairo Read to the far corner of the area was volleyed perfectly by David Hancko into the far corner.
The result means that Van Persie comes into Feyenoord with them in third place. They are currently level with FC Utrecht and AZ Alkmaar in the fight for third spot, which ensures the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League. Almere are last, seven points away from a playoff spot to stay in the division.
