Setback for Ajax in the Europa League as they lose home leg against Eintracht frankfurt
Ajax suffered a setback in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, losing their home match against Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. The Amsterdammers made a great start, scoring within the first ten minutes through Brian Brobbey, but goals from Hugo Larsson and Ellyes Skhiri gave the traveling team from Germany the win. The second leg will be played in Frankfurt next week.
Jordan Henderson and Josip Sutalo started the match for Ajax. Henderson had missed a lot of minutes in the last few weeks due to light discomfort. Sutalo returned from a shoulder injury.
Brian Brobbey almost scored a fantastic goal in just the second minute. The striker spun away from Frankfurt defender Tuta before his shot hit the goalpost.
However, the striker got his goal just eight minutes later. A cross from Henderson found the striker completely unmarked in front of the goal, and he calmly headed it into the net.
Frankfurt came close to equalizing right after the goal. Ansgar Knauff had plenty of space to run toward the goal, but his effort was then saved by Ajax keeper Remko Pasveer.
It was one of the last things that Pasveer did in the match, as he was forced to come off due to an injury shortly after. He was replaced by Jay Gorter, and the young goalkeeper's first job was to pick the ball out of the net. Hugo Larsson’s shot hit the head of Brobbey before going right into the corner of the goal to make it 1-1.
The German side took the lead in the 70th minute. Ajax felt that Knauff had fouled Youri Baas in their battle for the ball, but the referee did not whistle for a foul, leading to Knauff carrying the ball into the box before laying it off for Ellyes Skhiri, who calmly side-footed it into the net.
Ajax came closest to an equalizer in the 83rd minute. Victor Edvardsen crossed the ball to Kian Fitz Jim, but the midfielder's instinctive shot went wide of the goal.
The Amsterdammers will have a tough task to go through against the third-place German side next week. They will first continue their quest for the Eredivisie title with an away game against PEC Zwolle on Sunday.
