Ajax has once again achieved a problem-free and large victory in the Eredivisie. The team from Amsterdam was 0-5 too strong for Fortuna Sittard in Limburg, thanks to goals from Steven Berghuis, Noussair Mazraoui, Dusan Tadic, Mohammed Kudus and Nicolás Tagliafico. Kudus, who had recovered from a months-long ankle injury, made his first minutes of this season as a substitute. Ajax thus strengthens the lead and for the time being has a four-point lead over closest pursuer PSV, which will visit Go Ahead Eagles on Wednesday evening.
Erik ten Hag made two changes in his starting eleven in Sittard compared to the 9-0 home match against SC Cambuur last Saturday: Daley Blind and Antony were preferred over Tagliafico and David Neres. It was a miracle that Ajax did not take the lead against Fortuna within five minutes: Martin Angha thwarted a bet from Lisandro Martínez, George Cox took an attempt from Antony off the line and Tadic just didn’t benefit from defensive fumbling at Fortuna.
After eleven minutes of play, it was still a hit. A pass from Ryan Gravenberch ended up at Berghuis via a Fortuna leg, who remained cool and left goalkeeper Yanick van Osch without a chance. With 27 minutes on the clock, Ajax already lifted the score to 0-2. Sébastien Haller served Mazraoui, who was given time on the edge of the penalty area to check and put the ball into the right corner. Samy Baghdadi created the first danger on behalf of Fortuna after more than half an hour of play, but all the tension disappeared from the game before the break.
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Blind found Tadic within the penalty area, after which the Ajax captain checked the turn and convincingly shot the 0-3 against the ropes. At halftime, Ten Hag brought in Kudus as a replacement for Berghuis. The Ghanaian midfielder already made minutes with Young Ajax last week and now came into action for the first time this season with the main squad of the team from Amsterdam. The first Amsterdam danger of the second half came via Kudus, whose shot went wide.
Mohammed Kudus immediately crowns his comeback with a goal ??
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After a header from Baghdadi, Fortuna came out of his shell a little more in the second half, while Ajax seemed to slow down a bit. Ten Hag tried to give his team an impulse by putting Tagliafico and Mohamed Daramy on the field for Martínez and Haller with 65 minutes on the clock. Shortly afterwards, Antony got a shooting opportunity, after showing Cox his heels. After 72 minutes of play, Ajax further increased the score.
Daramy passed the ball to Tadic, who in turn found Kudus in the goal mouth. He graced his return with a goal, which could easily be scored for an empty goal. A few minutes later Ajax was 0-5, when Tagliafico entered into a combination with Tadic within the penalty area, got the ball back and hit it in the short corner. In the last fifteen minutes Fortuna kept the damage limited, so the score did not increase further. A home match against FC Groningen is now waiting for Ajax next Saturday, while Fortuna will visit Vitesse at the same time.