Ajax is on the brink of elimination in the Europa League. John van ‘t Schip’s team lost on its own field against Brighton & Hove Albion: 0-2. Ajax itself gave away the opening goal to Brighton through a blunder by Silvano Vos (finished by Ansu Fati). After the break, Simon Adingra increased the lead. Ajax is at the bottom of Group B with only two points from four matches; Brighton is taking the lead, although Olympique Marseille can still come alongside with a possible victory over AEK Athens on Thursday evening.
Van ‘t Schip completely changed the defense at Ajax. Devyne Rensch made his return as center back, but regularly moved to midfield when in possession of the ball. Vos replaced the injured Branco van den Boomen in midfield.
At Brighton there was room for all three Dutchmen in the selection. Bart Verbruggen got a chance under the crossbar; in defense were Jan Paul van Hecke and former Ajax player Joël Veltman, who was greeted kindly by the crowd in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
Things went wrong for Ajax in the fifteenth minute. Vos delivered the ball completely unnecessarily to Simon Adingra, who soon afterwards launched Ansu Fati. Face to face with Diant Ramaj, the attacker hired from FC Barcelona had no trouble finding the bottom left corner: 0-1.
Ajax then cautiously looked for the attack and was awarded two goals during a shout for a penalty (due to an alleged handball from a Brighton defender and shortly afterwards a push on Brian Brobbey). Brighton mainly gambled on the counter and saw João Pedro produce a shot from the left after more than half an hour.
Just before half time, a quick reflex with Ramaj’s foot was necessary to prevent another Brighton goal. The Ajax goalie saw Adingra shoot at goal from an awkward angle and reacted alertly.
Van ‘t Schip made an offensive substitution at half-time by bringing on Chuba Akpom for Kenneth Taylor, but had to watch as Ajax fell behind 0-2 in the first 53 minutes. Fati passed the ball to Adingra, who had started a run across the right side of the penalty area. The Ivorian beat Ramaj with a diagonal shot into the far corner: 0-2.
Brighton could have ended the match through Kaoru Mitoma, who broke free from Rensch’s guard on the counter. The free Japanese had a bad shot with the left that only sailed over.
Ajax started to attack more and more and had opportunities themselves. Brobbey came very close to the tying goal fifteen minutes before the end, but saw his effort as miraculous as it rolled over the goal line against the other post, both miraculously and frustratingly: no goal. Akpom also got a big chance afterwards. The striker hesitated for a moment and eventually shot straight at Verbruggen.