Ajax has a tighter grip on the lead in the Eredivisie. It was not very easy on Saturday evening, but nevertheless RKC Waalwijk won 1-4. Steven Berghuis and Brian Brobbey scored twice and thus took care of the entire production in the away win of Ajax, which is experiencing a good general before the Champions League match with Liverpool on Wednesday evening.
The first half in Waalwijk was still fairly rough for Ajax. The visitors even seemed to fall behind in the eleventh minute. Pelle Clement was still blocked by Remko Pasveer, but Michiel Kramer did score on behalf of RKC. However, a check by the VAR showed that the striker was offside at the time of scoring, which meant that the 1-0 was crossed. Ajax let the ball go around too slowly to become really dangerous, while RKC lurked on the counter. Halfway through the first half, the sometimes plodding leader broke the spell. Berghuis scored with a dry bang: 0-1. Davy Klaassen had the 0-2 on his shoe shortly afterwards, but the midfielder failed in a promising position after good preparatory work by Steven Bergwijn.
Steven Berghuis! ??#rkcaja pic.twitter.com/jxIVTUYpns
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) October 22, 2022
It was also striking that Dusan Tadic was invariably whistled by the RKC audience when possession of the ball. The fans of the home team also had something to cheer about before half-time. Klaassen made a save with a good block, but the ball still ended up at Clement via Kramer. The former Ajax player was able to simply tap in five minutes before the halftime signal: 1-1. There was another altercation between Kramer and Daley Blind, who was clearly unhappy with the tall forward’s foul. The protests resulted in the left back of Ajax on a yellow card. Far into injury time, Pasveer made a fabulous save on a bang from Thierry Lutonda. The team of trainer Alfred Schreuder put things in order in the second half.
Edson Álvarez and Blind were left in the dressing room, with Owen Wijndal and Florian Grillitsch as their replacements. RKC collapsed and Ajax was clearly in control after the break. The predominance resulted in the 1-2 in the 53rd minute. Berghuis lashed out just outside the box and saw the ball disappear into the far corner. The relief and joy was great among the Ajax players. After that, the list leader from Amsterdam finally took over the match. After more than an hour of play, Brobbey turned away well from Adewoye, only to outwit Etienne Vaessen from close by: 1-3.
Ten minutes before the end it seemed to be exciting, but Kramer slips the ball from close by and via an Ajax player. Just two minutes later Brobbey scored his second goal of the evening: 1-4. The accurate attacker immediately suffered from cramps after his goal. Brobbey was able to score after a fine pass from the outstanding Berghuis. In the final phase, the striker and Bergwijn made way for Mohammed Kudus and Lorenzo Lucca. Francisco Conceição, who came in for Klaassen later, failed to score 1-5 in injury time. Nevertheless, Ajax left the field in Waalwijk with a good feeling.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 28 |
| 2 | PSV | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 24 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 24 |
| 4 | AZ | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 23 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 19 |
| 6 | Sparta Rotterdam | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
| 7 | sc Heerenveen | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| 8 | RKC Waalwijk | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| 9 | FC Utrecht | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -6 | 12 |
| 10 | Fortuna Sittard | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -5 | 12 |
| 11 | NEC | 10 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 12 | Excelsior | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | -15 | 10 |
| 13 | Go Ahead Eagles | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -5 | 9 |
| 14 | SC Cambuur | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -9 | 8 |
| 15 | Vitesse | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -10 | 8 |
| 16 | Fc Groningen | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -12 | 8 |
| 17 | FC Emmen | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | -14 | 6 |
| 18 | FC Volendam | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | -17 | 6 |