Ajax back in second place with win against Almere; Utrecht draw against Go Ahead Eagles
Ajax are now second in the Eredivisie table. The Amsterdammers beat relegation candidates Almere City 3-0 in the Johan Cruijff Arena on Sunday, a few hours after Utrecht had failed to beat Go Ahead Eagles at home.
There was controversy during the match in Amsterdam as Almere felt that their opening goal was disallowed incorrectly. Devyne Rensch lost the ball to Junior Kadile, who then placed the ball past Remko Pasveer, but referee Jeroen Manschot felt that Kadile fouled the Ajax defender and disallowed the goal.
This came just a few minutes before Ajax took the lead. A cross from Owen Wijndal was lightly touched by Almere keeper Nick Bakker onto Davy Klaassen’s chest, which resulted in it dropping perfectly for Wout Weghorst, who hit it hard into the near corner.
Francesco Farioli’s side doubled their lead five minutes before halftime through a sublime finish by Kenneth Taylor. His midfield partner Jordan Henderson found the 22-year-old with a long ball, which Taylor let drop once before lobbing Bakker perfectly to make it 2-0.
Taylor has been in fantastic form this season under the new Italian manager, and his good form continued in the second half. He got an assist for the 3-0 scored by Kian Fitz-Jim. A chip from Chuba Akpom towards Taylor was then headed down to Fitz-Jim, who smashed it into the corner instantly.
Wijndal was causing danger from the left-back position, and he almost got an assist, too, when Weghorst headed his cross onto the crossbar in the 58th minute.
Controversial refereeing decisions also played a role in Utrecht’s 3-3 draw with Go Ahead Eagles earlier on Sunday. An incredible opening goal after five minutes by Go Ahead midfielder Enric Llansana was followed by a sending-off for the midfielder four minutes later.
The midfielder was judged to have been the last man by the referee when he took down Paxten Aaronson on the edge of the area. Many will have thought that Utrecht was going towards a win when they equalized four minutes after the sending-off through Miguel Rodriguez but two second-half goals by Oliver Antman and Jakob Breum meant that Go Ahead were 1-3 ahead going into the closing stages.
Although the Utrecht fans will be disappointed with only gaining a point at home to Go Ahead, they will have been proud of their team’s resilience in the closing stages.
Ron Jans’ team halved the deficit in the 88th minute when Adrian Blake side-footed the ball into the goal. This was followed by the visitors hitting the crossbar in what was a dramatic final 10 minutes of the match.
The supporters in the Galgenwaard were celebrating wildly in the last seconds of the game when Blake got his second to make it 3-3 after his shot was deflected into the corner.
Ajax and Utrecht now have 36 points each, but the Amsterdammers are currently second due to a superior goal difference. League leaders PSV have 42 points.
