Pressure mounts on Ajax manager John Heitinga after Sparta draw; Feyenoord win late
The pressure is mounting on Ajax manager John Heitinga after the Amsterdammers scored two late goals to salvage a draw away to Sparta Rotterdam on Saturday. Ajax supporters have been unhappy with the team’s start to the season, which was compounded by a 4-0 defeat against Olympique Marseille in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
Ajax had taken the lead in the game in the 42nd minute when Wout Weghorst broke the deadlock, but Sparta struck back in the third minute of injury time through their striker, Tobias Lauritsen.
A three-minute spell resulted in two goals for Sparta, who are managed by former Ajax manager Maurice Steijn, scored by Mitchell van Bergen and Joshua Kitolano. This put the home team 3-1 up in the Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel.
Weghorst got his second goal of the game in the 73rd minute with a lovely bent finish into the far corner before a 97th-minute goal by Oscar Gloukh led to the final score of 3-3. Reports after the game stated that Heitinga is currently not in any real danger of losing his job. Ajax will now have a weekend off due to the international break.
Ajax’s arch rivals, Feyenoord, kept their top spot with a late winner from Ayase Ueda, giving them a 3-2 win over FC Utrecht. Ueda had also scored the first goal of the game in the 20th minute before Gijval Zechiel, who is on loan for Utrecht from Feyenoord, leveled the game in the 47th minute.
Sem Steijn scored in the 50th minute to put Robin van Persie’s side back in front before full-back Derry Murkin equalized in the 83rd minute. This was set to be the final score until the 88th minute when Ueda got a dramatic winner.
The defeat makes it six games without a win for Utrecht, who were also defeated by Norwegian side SK Brann in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
This means that Feyenoord has a three-point lead over PSV going into the international break. The Eindhovenaren picked up a comfortable 4-0 win in Zwolle. Ismael Saibari, Dennis Man, Joey Veerman, and Ryan Flamingo got the goals for Peter Bosz’s side.
