Ajax did not make a mistake in the away match against RKC Waalwijk on Sunday. Erik ten Hag’s team recorded a 0-5 victory and therefore takes over the lead from PSV based on the goal difference. It was a welcome victory after two slips by Ajax. Sébastien Haller and Steven Berghuis scored twice; Jurriën Timber also put his name on the score sheet.
After the scoreless draws against Heracles Almelo and Go Ahead Eagles, it was nice for Ajax to be able to quickly break the spell in Waalwijk. After more than fifteen minutes, the visitors succeeded. Daley Blind laid the foundation for the goal by holding the ball after a tackle by Juriën Gaari on the back line. Although the left back went to the grass, he shielded the ball and managed to reach Dusan Tadic. His turning pass was then promoted to assist by the heading Haller, who found the far corner: 0-1. The opening goal was already in the air, because Ajax was the dominant party and was already threatening via Tadic in the first fifteen minutes.
Halfway through the first half, the captain of Ajax appeared in front of goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen, but he did not get a shot. Remko Pasveer then prevented RKC from coming alongside on the other side. With a reflex he saved a header by Michiel Kramer from close range. After that, Ajax no longer ran into serious problems and doubled the margin four minutes before the end. Tadic reached Blind with a nice heel, after which the cross from the steamed left back enabled Berghuis to finish from close range.
Circus Antony is back in the Netherlands! ????????#RKCAJA pic.twitter.com/MJeBuDVDQg
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) Nov 21, 2021
He made Ajax’s 500th goal in 185 games under Ten Hag. Six minutes after the break, hit number 501 seemed to follow. Berghuis launched Antony, who found the left corner eye to eye with Vaessen. However, the video arbitration noted that the Brazilian was narrowly offside. Shortly afterwards it was still 0-3: after a long ball from Lisandro Martínez, Haller was able to take a shot. Vaessen made the save, but Berghuis scored his second goal of the game in the rebound.
Sixteen minutes before the end, Timber also contributed. The defender, who skipped the Dutch’s World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Norway due to overload, was able to finish from close range. Two substitutes at Ajax played an important role in the goal. David Neres sent a spinning cross towards the far post, where Mohamed Daramy stood to hand Timber the goal on a silver platter. The final chord came in the name of Haller, again after preparatory work by Neres. Vaessen prevented Haller from completing his hat-trick in a one-on-one situation, after which a bicycle kick by Zakaria Labyad ended up on the crossbar.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 30 |
| 2 | PSV | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 30 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 28 |
| 4 | FC Utrecht | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 23 |
| 5 | Vitesse | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | -7 | 22 |
| 6 | FC Twente | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 21 |
| 7 | NEC | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | -2 | 19 |
| 8 | SC Cambuur | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | -5 | 18 |
| 9 | William II | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | -6 | 18 |
| 10 | sc Heerenveen | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 17 |
| 11 | Go Ahead Eagles | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | -6 | 17 |
| 12 | AZ | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| 13 | Heracles Almelo | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -3 | 14 |
| 14 | Fc Groningen | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | -7 | 14 |
| 15 | RKC Waalwijk | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -8 | 11 |
| 16 | Sparta Rotterdam | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -9 | 10 |
| 17 | Fortuna Sittard | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -14 | 9 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | -19 | 4 |