Ajax got rid of Fortuna Sittard without any problems on Sunday. With the help of Steven Berghuis, who once again played as right winger in the absence of Mohammed Kudus, John Heitinga’s formation achieved a resounding 4-0 victory. With that, Ajax still keeps the glimmer of hope that there is still alive for the national title. Silvano Vos and Mika Godts made their debut for the team from Amsterdam.
The biggest loss for Heitinga – at least beforehand – was the absence of Kudus. The Ghanaian technician was injured last Wednesday against Feyenoord (1-2 win) and has to watch indefinitely. Berghuis therefore moved to the right outside position on Sunday, where he had last been in October. It only took him five minutes to revive old times.
What did Berghuis have for Easter breakfast? ???? ? 6′ ? 27′#ajafor pic.twitter.com/h2b16oF7qt
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) April 9, 2023
Berghuis dribbled in in the way that used to be so characteristic for him and aimed the ball out of reach of Ivor Pandur and via the post in the far corner: 1-0. Dusan Tadic could have made it 2-0 after twenty minutes, but the Ajax captain left a lousy back pass by Rémy Vita unpunished. However, Fortuna’s left back continued to shoot and saw direct opponent Berghuis take care of his second of the afternoon in minute 27.
Vita missed a cross from Tadic, allowing Berghuis to take it and shoot the ball into the roof of the goal with his right: 2-0. There was no problem for Ajax – not even after Kenneth Taylor’s loss of possession led to a counter for Fortuna. He was dangerous, but striker Burak Yilmaz was too slow to outwit the outgoing Gerónimo Rulli. It was also one of Yilmaz’s last achievements: the Turkish veteran would not return after the break.
The same applied to Ajax player Youri Baas, who saw Jorrel Hato enter the field as his replacement. The seventeen-year-old saw his team make the next one in minute 54. Berghuis went for a walk again and put the ball ready for Steven Bergwijn on the edge of sixteen. The left wing attacker did not hesitate for a moment and shot hard behind Pandur: 3-0. Heitinga considered the loot in and decided to bring Davy Klaassen and Florian Grillitsch to the side. The former was replaced by Francisco Conceição, while Vos was awarded his debut for Ajax 1. After Taylor had provided the final chord, Godts was also allowed to show up.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feyenoord | 27 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 36 | 64 |
| 2 | Ajax | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 48 | 59 |
| 3 | PSV | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 59 |
| 4 | AZ | 28 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 54 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 28 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 26 | 51 |
| 6 | Sparta Rotterdam | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 49 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 42 |
| 8 | sc Heerenveen | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | -4 | 38 |
| 9 | RKC Waalwijk | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 35 |
| 10 | NEC | 28 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| 11 | Fortuna Sittard | 28 | 9 | 5 | 14 | -16 | 32 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | -10 | 30 |
| 13 | Vitesse | 28 | 6 | 9 | 13 | -15 | 27 |
| 14 | FC Volendam | 28 | 7 | 6 | 15 | -26 | 27 |
| 15 | FC Emmen | 28 | 5 | 10 | 13 | -21 | 25 |
| 16 | Excelsior | 28 | 7 | 3 | 18 | -40 | 24 |
| 17 | Fc Groningen | 28 | 4 | 5 | 19 | -30 | 17 |
| 18 | SC Cambuur | 28 | 4 | 4 | 20 | -34 | 16 |