At the last minute, Ajax had one point left over from the away match against PSV. The leader of the Eredivisie was the lesser side for almost the entire match, but secured a point via a late penalty from Dusan Tadic: 1-1. As a result, the gap between both teams remains six points; Ajax still has a match credit. PSV’s goal came from a free kick by Eran Zahavi.
In the fifth minute, a moment of commotion arose for the first time. The steamy Devyne Rensch sent a low cross from inside the penalty area, which was processed by Jordan Teze just before the goal line. In the panic, the defender tapped the ball against his own post and that was enough to end the danger without giving away a corner. Ajax put PSV under pressure in the opening phase, but Roger Schmidt’s team survived that period. After that, the balance shifted and the initiative increasingly came to lie with PSV.
The turnaround almost resulted in the 1-0 halfway through the first half. Jordan Teze sent a long ball to Denzel Dumfries from behind down the right flank and saw that Daley Blind failed to intercept the ball. This allowed Dumfries to storm the sixteen meter area. He cut past Lisandro Martínez, was hindered for a while by Jurriën Timber and came close to Maarten Stekelenburg. PSV did not create many opportunities, but was the parent.
In the end, a free kick offered the home team a solution. Eran Zahavi was allowed to dock from just outside the penalty area, in a similar position to where he scored against Olympiacos from Thursday, and successfully placed the ball over the wall. Maarten Stekelenburg was transfixed: 1-0. It was already Zahavi’s third league goal against PSV this season; the last PSV player to score three goals against Ajax in the same season was Jeremain Lens in 2012/13.
The second half started with a great opportunity for Ajax. After a nice heel by Antony, a sharp cross from Dusan Tadic followed from the left flank, which resulted in a free header for Sébastien Haller from close range. However, the striker’s deployment sailed past. At Ajax, David Neres and Mohammed Kudus came within the lines for Antony and Edson Álvarez ten minutes after the break. However, those changes did not lead to great offensive threat from Ajax. On the contrary: thirteen minutes before the end, Yorbe Vertessen seemed to make it 2-0 after a swift breakout.
Ryan Gravenberch lost the ball, after which Donyell Malen combined with Vertessen and the latter was accurate in two instances. However, the video arbitration noted that Vertessen had touched the ball with the arm, which keeps him waiting for his first goal in the Eredivisie. After that, Stekelenburg narrowly prevented Philipp Max from deciding the match via a placed free kick. In the last minute, however, things went completely wrong for PSV. Danny Makkelie pointed to the penalty spot when Dumfries stopped a shot by Davy Klaassen from close range with his arm. The captain received a yellow card; the subsequent penalty was shot high through the middle by Tadic.