Ajax left heartbroken after late winner for Liverpool
Ajax tasted defeat in their second match of this season's Champions League on Tuesday. The Amsterdammers lost 2-1 to Liverpool at Anfield. Mohamed Kudus had equalized for the reigning Eredivisie champions before Joel Matip scored a late header to give Liverpool the win.
Ajax's opponents did not play last weekend as the matches in the English Premier League were canceled out of respect for Queen Elizabeth, who passed away on Thursday. Ajax did play and beat SC Heerenveen 5-0 in the Johan Cruijff arena.
There was worry about Ajax fans missing the match beforehand due to the chaos at Schiphol; despite this, the Ajax fans seemed to be in good numbers, with many altering their plans and using the car to get to Liverpool.
Liverpool took the lead after 16 minutes as the Amsterdammers failed to cope with the intensity of Jurgen Klopp's team. After Jurrien Timber lost a header to Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota played the ball through to Mohamed Salah, who then curled the ball past Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer.
Diaz nearly made it two after 21 minutes, and again it was due to Liverpool dominating in the air. This time, Netherlands captain Virgil Van Dijk won the battle and headed the ball down to the Colombian winger, who volleyed narrowly wide.
Ajax leveled after 26 minutes against the run of play as Mohamed Kudus continued his rich goalscoring form as he smashed a shot into the Liverpool net via the crossbar.
Ajax was lucky to get to half-time level as Van Dijk found space again in the Ajax box. However, he was only able to aim his header at Pasveer.
Alfred Schreuder's team seemed much more able to stop Liverpool's front line in the second half and nearly took the lead 15 minutes from time when Daley Blind headed narrowly wide from a Dusan Tadic cross.
Liverpool's new signing from last summer, Darwin Nunez, missed a huge opportunity to put the Reds ahead when Salah had crossed the ball to him in the box. Nunez hit the shot wide of the post.
Salah hit the post in the 88th minute when Calvin Bassey deflected his shot for a corner. The danger was far from over for Ajax as Joel Matip struck to break Ajax's hearts. Ajax captain Dusan Tadic cleared the ball, but it was signaled via goal-line technology that he had done so after the ball had already crossed the line.
Ajax is now level on points with Liverpool after two games with one win each. Napoli faces Rangers tomorrow evening in Glasgow in the other match in this group.
