Ajax holds its own for the first time in a top match and takes a point against PSV

The top match between Ajax and PSV did not produce a winner on Saturday evening. In the Johan Cruijff ArenA the final score was 1-1 after ninety minutes. Steven Berghuis opened the score on behalf of Ajax, after which Luuk de Jong brought the score back into balance. The draw means the second loss of points for leader PSV of this Eredivisie season. In the meantime, Ajax remains in fifth place due to the draw.

Jordan Henderson made his debut for Ajax: he started in midfield, together with Kenneth Taylor and Kristian Hlynsson. As a result, Benjamin Tahirovic had to settle for a place on the bench again. Josip Sutalo returned to the heart of the defense after a calf injury.

On the PSV side, Ismael Saibari, who was active with Morocco in the African Cup of Nations in recent weeks, returned to the starting line-up. Noa Lang, Joey Veerman, Malik Tillman and Guus Til, among others, were missing from the Eindhoven team, which meant that there was also a starting spot for Mauro Júnior in midfield.

PSV took the initiative in the opening phase, although it did not really provide great opportunities. After about ten minutes, Ajax also came out of its shell a little more, and that resulted in the first real chance of the match in the thirteenth minute: Steven Bergwijn didn't seem to hit the ball quite right in a promising position, causing his effort to go wide. went.

Six minutes later it suddenly became 1-0 for the Amsterdam team. Berghuis gave a nice through ball to Brian Brobbey, who decided to wait until his teammates joined him in the PSV penalty area. That happened: Brobbey kept the overview and set the ball ready for Berghuis, who shot in diagonally and low.

Good news for Ajax was the lead, bad news was the retirement of Devyne Rensch. He injured his groin and was replaced by Borna Sosa after half an hour. The Croatian immediately played a negative role in the equalizer a few minutes later. Saibari passed the ball in front of the goal, where De Jong came in front of his direct opponent Sosa and shot the ball in: 1-1.

Even after the break, the game fluctuated up and down at times. Berghuis was close to giving Ajax a new lead, but he shot the ball against Sergiño Dest. On the other side of the field, a hard long-range shot from Johan Bakayoko was saved by Diant Ramaj.

PSV came closest to taking the lead halfway through the second half, when De Jong headed the ball onto the crossbar from a free kick. Even after that, the ball could still go in on both sides. Brobbey broke through but pushed the ball wide, and Taylor shot over from about ten meters high. On the other side of the field, Ramaj saved Patrick van Aanholt's long shot.

There were no more goals in the final phase, partly thanks to a good save by Walter Benítez on an attempt by Taylor. As a result, this cracker ended in a draw.

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