Ajax starts Youth League with a difficult draw against Sporting

Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 2:02 PM• Yanick Vos

Ajax started the Youth League season with a 1-1 draw at Sporting Portugal. Under the watchful eye of general manager Edwin van der Sar and Sporting trainer Rúben Amorim, the young team of trainer Dave Vos had a very difficult time with the home team.

Ajax had nothing to contribute in the first half. Dave Vos’s team could do nothing but stop in the opening phase. While Sporting had already scored four goal attempts in the first fifteen minutes, the team from Amsterdam had not been close to the opponent’s goal. In one of those attempts by Sporting it was hit. After ten minutes, Ajax keeper Charlie Setford made a mistake: he shoved a failed kick into the feet of Mateus Fernandes. Sporting’s midfielder took the lead and scored: 1-0. Because the ball was changed direction by Olivier Aertssen on the way, Setford had no chance.

Although Sporting was the dominant party in the first half, the Portuguese were unable to extend the score further. Partly due to good defensive work by Aertssen and rescues by Setford, the margin remained small. Thus Ajax remained in the match and Vos and his assistants Ronald de Boer and Steven Pienaar were able to carry out repair work in the dressing room. Eskild Dall stayed behind in the locker room and Jaydon Banel came inside the lines. The Vos team put more pressure forward and that quickly led to the equalizer. Jeppe Kjaer Jensen was able to take off on the left wing and with some fortune the ball ended up against the ropes: 1-1.

The equalizer did not give Ajax wings; it was Sporting that called the shots and had the best chances to take the lead. The visitors had luck on their side, however, as Sporting missed several great opportunities. Twenty minutes before the end, it seemed to go wrong when the home team received a penalty after an alleged handball by Aertssen. Sporting striker Paulo Agostinho, however, failed from eleven meters; he shot the ball over. Ten minutes later it was Sporting that escaped a deficit when captain Amourricho van Axel Dongen hit the left side. However, the assistant referee flagged for offside and so the goal did not go through. In the final phase, Ajax went looking for the winning goal, but it didn’t come to that and so it returns home with a point.


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