Ajax victorious in dramatic match against Heracles; Utrecht continue winning run
Ajax picked up a dramatic victory on Sunday away against Heracles Almelo in the Eredivisie. The Amsterdammers won 3-4 after Wout Weghorst got two goals from the bench. The other goals in the match were scored by Davy Klaassen, Bertrand Traore, Luka Kulenovic (2), and Mario Engels.
Brian Brobbey missed a huge chance to give Ajax the lead before the home side took the lead in the 12th minute. Kulenovic’s shot was deflected into the goal off of what seemed to be the leg of Youri Baas.
A deflection also played a huge role in Ajax’s equalizer in the 25th minute. Traore cut inside before his shot was blocked and went straight to Klaassen, who was in the right place at the right time to knock it home and make the match even at 1-1.
Heracles re-took the lead with one of the best goals ever scored for the club. A wayward pass by Josip Sutalo went to Mario Engels, who shot instantly from his own half over Remko Pasveer in the Ajax goal.
The goals kept coming in the first half as Ajax equalized in the 33rd minute. Mika Godts cut inside and shot, but his shot was blocked by the Heracles defender. However, the ball dropped to Traore, who hammered the ball home via the underside of the crossbar.
Brobbey came close to his first goal of the game, but his slide effort from close range was saved by Fabian de Keijzer. Engels nearly got his second of the game a short while later, but his attempt hit the post via the hands of Pasveer.
Wout Weghorst scored against his old club within a few minutes of being introduced. The Oranje striker came on for Brobbey minutes before he was teed up by Jorrel Hato in the box with a free header.
Ajax had been warned that Heracles were not giving up when they hit the crossbar through Suf Podgoreanu in the 64th minute, and the home side followed this up by making it 3-3 in the 76th minute. Experienced midfielder Jordan Henderson lost an important duel in the midfield, which led to Kulenovic getting his second of the game by sliding home from close range.
Weghorst got his second from the penalty spot after he had been fouled by Thomas Bruns. The striker hit his penalty through the middle of the goal. It was not the last time that Weghorst was fouled as Brian de Keersmaecker was sent off for a second booking after fouling the 32-year-old.
Ajax are now third in the league table with a game in hand on the teams around them. Heracles are 14th with a two-point lead on SC Heerenveen in the relegation play-off spot.
PSV are top of the Eredivisie table, but the surprise package of the season thus far is FC Utrecht, who won again on Sunday to continue their terrific start to the season. The only goal of the game was scored by Yoann Cathline, who curled a shot in off the inside of the post in the 20th minute.
Utrecht is currently in second and is one of three unbeaten teams left in the Eredivisie with PSV and Feyenoord. The Rotterdammers trounced Go Ahead Eagles away 1-5 on Saturday with goals from Ibrahim Osman, Antoni Milambo, Quinten Timber, Ayase Ueda, and Julian Carranza.