Ajax won the benefit match against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday evening. The team of trainer Alfred Schreuder fell behind in the first company, but put things in order via Dusan Tadic, Steven Berghuis and Mohammed Kudus: 3-1. With the practice win over Shakhtar, Ajax concludes the preparation. On Saturday, the team from Amsterdam will take on PSV in the battle for the Johan Cruijff Scale.
The benefit match in the Johan Cruijff ArenA was dominated by the victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tickets were for sale from 10 euros and the entire proceeds will benefit various projects and agencies that provide aid to Ukrainian refugees and aid projects in Ukraine. After a minute of silence and the playing of the Ukrainian national anthem, the duel started. On the side of Ajax, Remko Pasveer, Jurriën Timber and Antony made their first minutes of preparation.
Schreuder’s team had the best of the game in the opening phase. It resulted in chances for Steven Bergwijn and Antony, but both times goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin had an answer. The visitors slowly pulled out of their shell during the first half. Pasveer made a save on the goal line after a header by Oleksiy Kashchuk. It was a first warning, because after more than half an hour Ajax was facing a backlog. Mykhaylo Mudryk showed Devyne Rensch his heels in a sprint duel before finishing easily.
The team from Amsterdam therefore headed for a 0-1 halftime score, but Dusan Tadic still brought Ajax alongside in the 45th minute. The captain shot in from close range, although his goal smelled like offside. Ajax wanted to push through early in the second half against a Shakhtar that made no fewer than nine substitutions. Timber was the first to get close to a lead for the home team with a header on the post, after which Berghuis forced the experienced Andriy Pyatov to a final save with a placed shot in the top left corner.
Steven ???????????????? with the 2-1 for Ajax ????? There is some luck involved, but the Amsterdammers are in the lead ????#ZiggoSport #AJASHA pic.twitter.com/XILsUyMxU7
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) July 26, 2022
Ajax dominated in the second act. For a long time, however, Schreuder saw that his team was not focused or that actions were being taken too far. Thanks to Berghuis, the lead was finally a fact more than twenty minutes before the end. Again there was a bit of luck involved, because Pyatov had no chance when the midfielder’s long shot was changed direction. The 2-1 was reason for Schreuder to bring Brian Brobbey and Francisco Conceição within the lines. Ajax’s game still looked frivolous at times. A proof of this was the final chord of Kudus, who, as a substitute, shot the ball beautifully into the long corner from the edge of the sixteen-meter area: 3-1.