John van 't Schip loses his first league match as Ajax manager against Heerenveen

SC Heerenveen celebrated the 500th Eredivisie match in the Abe Lenstra stadium with a resounding victory over Ajax. The Friesland club triumphed 3-2 after taking a 3-0 lead after 46 minutes.

Ajax had not lost in the previous 29 league matches with SC Heerenveen. The club from the capital fell further behind in the battle for third place in the Eredivisie, which provides a ticket for the preliminary rounds of the Champions League. FC Twente, the current number 3 in the rankings, has expanded to a lead of 9 points. AZ, number 4 in the competition, has 1 point more than Ajax.

It is the first time Ajax has lost a league match under manager John van 't Schip after nine wins and three draws. The manager saw that his team remained vulnerable defensively, even with Jordan Henderson in the side. Ajax was bottom of the league at the beginning of November when Van 't Schip started his job.

Pelle van Amersfoort gave Heerenveen the lead in the 11th minute after a cross from Oliver Braude. Many Ajax players thought it was offside, but the video VAR official ruled that Patrik Wålemark had not extended the Norwegian right back's cross. Osame Sahraoui scored to make it 2-0 in the 38th minute.

Thom Haye hit the crossbar before halftime on behalf of the home team, as did Ajax player Kristian Hlynsson. Goalkeeper Mickey van der Hart, the replacement for Andries Noppert, who was dropped, prevented goals from Borna Sosa and Hlynsson with two excellent reflexes.

Van 't Schip substituted Carlos Forbs at halftime, who was brought into the side to replace the injured Steven Bergwijn. His replacement, Chuba Akpom, had been on the field for less than a minute when Heerenveen made it 3-0. Van Amersfoort scored again after Josip Sutalo lost the ball, and a series of defensive mistakes followed.

Ajax made it 3-1 in the 51st minute. Defender Pawel Bochniewicz put the ball past his own goalkeeper after a cross from Brian Brobbey, who moments later failed to reduce the deficit to one with a header. Akpom did score in the 79th minute, and many Ajax players thought they saw defender Sven van Beek put the ball deep into his own goal in injury time. The video referee saw no evidence of this.