Ajax hammered 4-0 by Olympique Marseille in the UEFA Champions League
Ajax suffered a severe defeat on Tuesday against Olympique Marseille in the UEFA Champions League. The Amsterdammers lost 4-0 in France, with Igor Paixao, Mason Greenwood, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang getting the goals.
It is a poor start to the Champions League for John Heitinga’s side after they also lost the first game of the league phase against Inter Milan in Amsterdam. It is the first time since 2012-13 that Ajax has had 0 points after two games in the competition. It is the first time that they have failed to score in the first two games since the 2011-12 season.
Ajax center back Youri Baas returned to the side after a knee injury. The 22-year-old was preferred by Heitinga over Josip Sutalo. The Amsterdammers started the game with Oscar Gloukh as striker due to injuries to Wout Weghorst and Kasper Dolberg.
Marseille took the lead in the sixth minute. Ajax were playing with a very high defensive line, and this was exploited by Roberto De Zerbi’s side with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang playing the ball on to Igor Paixao, and the former Feyenoord winger exploited the space to finish and make it 1-0.
The Brazilian winger made it 2-0 in the 13th minute. A poor pass by Davy Klaassen led to the ball arriving at the feet of Paixao, who hit it hard and low from distance to send the crowd in the Velodrome into wild celebrations.
It got even worse for the Amsterdammers in the 26th minute. Again, it was a poor giveaway, from Steven Berghuis this time, and again, Aubameyang got the assist by playing the pass on to Mason Greenwood, who finished from close range.
Ajax had their first chance to score in the 47th minute after former Ajax keeper Geronimo Rulli made an error in possession, resulting in Oliver Edvardsen, who had just come on, having the chance to chip the Argentinian goalkeeper, but the effort lacked strength, resulting in an easy save.
Aubamayang followed his two assists with a goal in the 53rd minute. This time, it was Paixao who assisted the goal with the Gabon striker finishing the chance to make it 4-0.
De Zerbi decided to take off some of his attacking players, which gave Ajax more impetus and control of the game. Edvardsen had another chance to score in the 57th minute. A deep cross found Klaassen, who laid it back off to the Norwegian, but he smashed the ball over the goal.
Kenneth Taylor came close to getting a consolation in the closing stages. The midfielder dribbled past a few defenders in the box before his effort was saved by Rulli.
Despite the chances, it was Marseille who missed the biggest chance of the second half. Another poor mistake in possession resulted in Greenwood having an easy chance to finish, but Jaros made a fantastic save to keep the score at 4-0. It was Ko Itakura who made the error on this occasion.
