Ajax win first league match under Francesco Farioli against Heerenveen

Ajax won their first league match under new manager Francesco Farioli on Sunday, beating SC Heerenveen 1-0 at home. The winning goal was scored by Kristian Hlynsson in what was also Robin van Persie’s first match as manager of Heerenveen.

Ajax manager Francesco Farioli made six changes to his side to preserve the energy due to the side facing Panathinaikos in Greece last Thursday and the second leg being played next Thursday in Amsterdam. Anton Gaaei and 18-year-old Dies Janse were brought in at the full-back spots, with Sivert Mannsverk, Branco van den Boomen, Kristian Hlynsson, and Mika Goats also starting.

Heerenveen thought that their task had become a lot harder after 12 minutes when Paweł Bochniewicz was given a red card by Bas Nijhuis for a tackle on Godts. However, the decision was reversed after a VAR check that lasted a few minutes.

Van Persie’s side had the most significant chance of the half thus far when they nearly scored in the 40th minute. Daniel Karlsbakk received the ball in the box and tried to dribble around Remko Pasveer in the Ajax goal, but the corner had become very tight from the angle in the end, and he hit it wide.

Despite the side from Friesland having the best chance of the half, Ajax went into the halftime break with the lead. Godts was played in by Van den Boomen before he cut inside and played it to Hlynsson in the box, who hit it hard into the bottom corner.

With a very similar attack, it should have been 2-0 at halftime. Again, Godts received the ball on the wing before cutting inside and playing it to a midfielder who had come forward, but Van den Boomen failed to do what Hlynsson did and hit the post with his effort. The ball was then also put wide by Akpom, who had to react quickly to the ball coming at him.

The second half went the same way that all Ajax’s competitive matches have gone under Farioli thus far: solid defensively but offering very little offensively, resulting in a pretty drab half.

But Ajax fans will not be too bothered about that as they start their season with a win. The club will face Panathinaikos on Thursday to qualify for the next round of the UEFA Europa League, and there are links for players like Steven Bergwijn and Carlos Forbs to be sold as the club is trying to reduce the wage bill.

Heerenveen will host FC Utrecht next weekend in the league as Ajax travel to newly promoted NAC Breda.