Ajax win away game against Vitesse 1-2

Ajax won the away match against Vitesse with a score of 1-2. John Heitinga's side keeps themselves in the vicinity of leaders Feyenoord, who defeated Fortuna Sittard in Limburg earlier on Sunday (2-4).

Ajax is now three points behind the leaders from Rotterdam, and manager John Heitinga is still yet to lose a point in his first five league matches. The replacement for the sacked Alfred Schreuder changed his starting side compared to the loss to Union Berlin on Thursday in one position. Owen Wijndal returned as Calvin Bassey was put on the bench. The home team from Arnhem had paid attention to how the Germans ended Ajax's European adventure. Vitesse too, defended with large numbers and tried to strike via a counterattack, corner, or free kick.

Vitesse was reasonably untroubled for the first half hour. Goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen recovered from an ankle injury, saved a shot from Kenneth Taylor, and got lucky when an attempt from Mohamed Kudus went over. The first counter by the home team was instantly dangerous. Matus Bero was one-on-one with Geronimo Rulli, who saved the shot with his legs. The Argentinian keeper could not stop Vitesse from scoring just under a minute later. Just like Union Berlin, Vitesse scored from a corner. Marco van Ginkel headed home to score his 50th goal in the Eredivisie.

Ajax replied within three minutes. Davy Klaassen seemed offside when he received the ball from his opponent Nicolas Isimat-Mirin. He scored, and the video referee decided to let the goal stand. With Bassey coming on for the disappointing Steven Berghuis, Ajax gained more control in the defence. Edson Alvarez went into midfield and headed his side into the lead from a Dusan Tadic corner after 54 minutes.

The Serbian captain played his 150th match for Ajax in the Eredivisie. During those matches, he had a hand in 151 goals (73 goals and 78 assists), according to Gracenote. The substitute Brian Brobbey missed twice in the match's ending stages to get Ajax's third goal. Vitesse could not profit from it and lost their 10th match in 23 league games.