Ajax embarrassed in Latvia as they lose 1-0 to RFS in the UEFA Europa League
Ajax suffered an incredibly embarrassing loss to Latvian side RFS Riga on Thursday. The Amsterdammers lost 1-0 to a goal from Adam Markhiev, who gave the Latvian team their first-ever win in European competition.
The loss is also damaging to Ajax’s hopes of progression. The Amsterdammers seemed set to even make the top eight, which would have resulted in a bye for the next round, but now that they have lost three in a row, they may need to get at least a point against Galatasaray in their final game.
Francesco Farioli continued his choice to pick Brian Brobbey over Wout Weghorst in the striker position. The striker has struggled to score this season but has still been favored by the Italian manager as of late.
The first half was a dull affair with only one chance of note, which came shortly before halftime. Brobbey used his strength well to hold off Herdi Prenga before laying the ball off to Kian Fitz-Jim, but the midfielder’s finish was disappointing as it went far wide of the goal.
Ajax thought they had taken the lead after 53 minutes played when Anton Gaaei’s corner was headed towards goal by Josip Sutalo. However, the Croatian defender’s effort was cleared off the goalline by Jānis Ikaunieks.
RFS shocked everyone by taking the lead in the 78th minute. Fitz-Jim continued his difficult game as he played a terrible pass straight to Markhiev, who carried the ball before smashing it into the bottom corner.
The Ajax midfielder had a chance to make up for his mistake when he was played in by Chuba Akpom in the 87th minute. But unfortunately for Fitz-Jim, the ball bobbled right before he was about to finish, resulting in it going over the bar.
Ajax will have a week to get over this loss as they have been given the weekend off by the Dutch Football Association, the KNVB, to rest before their match against Galatasaray.
