First ever competitive match between Almere City and Ajax finishes 2-2
The first-ever competitive match between Almere City and Ajax finished 2-2 on Sunday in the Eredivisie. A penalty scored in injury time by Thomas Robinet canceled out the goals by Chuba Akpom, Benjamin Tahirovic, and Jochem Ritmeester van de Kampen.
John van 't Schip gave Georges Mikautadze a chance to prove himself with a starting spot. It was the second time the Georgian striker has been named in the starting lineup for the Amsterdammers since he joined them for 16 million last summer from French side FC Metz.
The first half was a dull affair. The closest either side came to breaking the deadlock were long-distance shots from Steven Bergwijn and Thomas Robinet. Both attempts went wide of the goal.
Alex Pastoor's side was doing a good job of nullifying Ajax with some aggressive play. As a result, three Almere players had been booked by referee Bas Nijhuis at halftime.
Kenneth Taylor nearly gave Ajax the lead three minutes after the restart. Bergwijn found the midfielder with a clever backheel before Taylor's strike hit the inside of the post before going out for a goal kick.
Brian Brobbey tested Almere goalkeeper Nordin Bakker twice in five minutes just after the hour mark. Both times, the 26-year-old saved the attempts. The second one went out for a corner, which resulted in Almere taking the lead. The substitute Lance Duivesteijn showed his vision by finding Jochem Ritmeester van de Kampen in front of the Ajax goal. Van de Kampen stayed very calm, taking a touch that took Anton Gaaei and goalkeeper Diant Ramaj out of the equation before tapping the ball home into the empty net.
The away side had equalized just a minute later. The ball was played into Brobbey in the box, who used his strength to hold on to it before laying it off to Chuba Akpom, who scored with his first touch of the match. It was the Englishman's fourth goal in his last three games.
Both strikers had a huge chance to give their side the lead when Gaaei came up well before putting a great cross into Brobbey in front of goal. Bakker saved his attempt from point-blank range before also stopping the rebound attempt by Akpom.
Ajax took the lead in the 83rd minute. It was very similar to the first goal as the ball was played into Brobbey in the box, who laid it off to onrushing Benjamin Tahirovic this time, his shot was placed high into the goal.
Tahirovic, who has often been criticized this season, thought he was the match-winner but made an error in the 92nd minute. The Bosnian midfielder slid in to stop Almere midfielder Stije Resink from crossing, but Resink spun back, ensuring that the slide tackle made contact with his legs. Nijhuis was given no choice but to point to the spot.
The penalty was taken by Robinet, who kept his cool, placing the ball into the corner away from the outstretched arms of Ramaj.
Both sides have a week's break as the internationals will be played. Ajax returns on the 25th of November at home to Vitesse. Almere is also at home on Sunday against Heracles Almelo.
