Ajax victorious in Zwolle; Twente and AZ win, too
Two goals from Chuba Akpom helped Ajax to a 1-3 victory against PEC Zwolle on Sunday. It was easy for John van ’t Schip’s side, who are still missing vital players through injury.
A great lobbed pass from midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic found Kristian Hlynsson, who volleyed his shot straight into the far corner to give the away side the lead in the 12th minute.
Despite the mediocre performance of the Amsterdammers, they were still dominant. Captain Steven Bergwijn saw his effort headed away right before it was set to go in by Thomas Lam.
They doubled their lead after 24 minutes played. Youngster Mika Godts passed it through to Akpom, who had made a run. The English striker’s shot was deflected into the net.
Zwolle came into the game more before halftime and missed a huge opportunity to reduce the deficit to one goal. Younes Namli crossed the ball into the box to PEC captain Bram van Polen, who was completely unmarked, but the defender showed why he is a defender by getting the connection on his finish all wrong.
Akpom missed a big chance to get his second of the match and Ajax’s third, and PEC took advantage, scoring with just under 20 minutes to go to set up an exciting finale to the game.
Flip Krastev dribbled right through the Ajax defence before scoring from close range.
A fantastic save from Ajax goalkeeper Diant Ramaj stopped Lennart Thy from leveling the match a few minutes later. The rebound was shot home by Silvester van der Water, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
The third goal for Ajax was too easy from a Zwolle perspective. A long ball from Branco van den Boomen found fullback Anton Gaeei, who only had to lay the ball across the box to Chuba Akpom to get his second goal of the game and put the match to bed.
AZ beat relegation battlers Vitesse on Saturday in Alkmaar. The Alkmaarders took the lead through a Dani de Wit header from a corner in the 53rd minute before Vangelis Pavlidis added to his goal tally by tapping home a cross from Myron Van Brederode.
FC Twente struggled in their home match against Heracles Almelo. Myron Boadu scored after 53 minutes to give Twente the lead.
Twente did not play particularly well and was lucky to escape with the win as Mario Engels hit the post for the visitors in injury time.
These results mean that the league table is unchanged for the European football spots compared to last weekend. FC Twente is third and in the final Champions League spot with 56 points, with four points more than AZ.
AZ is eight points ahead of Ajax and seems set to qualify for European football without needing the playoffs. Ajax must watch their back for NEC Nijmegen, who are just two points behind the Amsterdammers.
