Ajax suffered damage on Sunday in the battle for the championship in the Eredivisie. The leader from Amsterdam lost 1-2 to the brave AZ in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Vangelis Pavlidis signed for the opening goal on behalf of the visitors from Alkmaar five minutes after the break. Sébastien Haller cleared the deficit with more than fifteen minutes to play, on the instructions of Dusan Tadic. Haller now shares the top scorer title with Bryan Linssen with ten goals. However, the final chord was for Zakaria Aboukhlal with the winning goal in the 84th minute. Ajax is still at the top with 36 points, but PSV can go over the title competitor on Sunday with a win over NEC. The people of Eindhoven are now on 34 points.
The again fit Tadic returned to Ajax, while Devyne Rensch took over the position of right back from the injured Noussair Mazraoui. In the initial phase, both teams sought the attack, without creating many chances. In addition, both Ajax and AZ were quite sloppy in the passing. AZ had things well under control from a defensive point of view. Left back Owen Wijndal in particular made a good impression in the personal duels with Antony. In addition, the team of trainer Pascal Jansen lurked on the counter in Amsterdam. Shortly before halftime, Daley Blind seemed to create danger for AZ’s goal with a cross from the left, but the left back was unable to reach a teammate in the end.
? Is there a surprise in the making in the Johan Cruijff Arena? AZ takes the lead through Vangelis Pavlidis. ?? ESPN#? #ajaaz pic.twitter.com/Y2gltfnUwF
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) December 12, 2021
Shortly after the restart, Steven Berghuis found goalkeeper Vindahl Jensen on his way and Tadic also failed to score in the rebound. Shortly afterwards, the opening goal fell just on the other side. Yukinari Sugawara, as the footage later showed, was not in an offside position, then served Pavlidis. Remko Pasveer had no answer to his hard bang: 0-1. It was only Ajax’s third goal this season. Wijndal then appeared to double AZ’s lead, but the left back was called back for offside. After more than an hour of playing in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, Vindahl Jensen played a hero’s role. The keeper made an excellent save on a header from close by from Haller and in the rebound the almost unmissable opportunity was also a prey for the AZ goalkeeper.
The equalizer for the disappointing Ajax, where Davy Klaassen appeared as a substitute, came after more than fifteen minutes of play. Tadic kept the overview and served Haller to measure, who then signed for the 1-1 from close range. It was Tadic’s eleventh assists of this Eredivisie season. The goal was checked by the VAR, but remained standing after the check. The tide seemed to turn in Amsterdam in favor of Ajax, but nothing could be further from the truth. Aboukhlal, who came in for Pavlidis, was crowned supersub. The substitute tapped in the far corner after an excellent play by Wijndal on the left. Ajax paid the price for the weak defense in the final phase.
Vindahl Jensen made a skilful save on a shot from the distance from Gravenberch, but in the fifth minute of injury time it still went wrong for AZ. The AZ goalkeeper collided with Danilo and the ball then ended up at substitute Perr Schuurs. The defender was overjoyed and the players of AZ went straight to referee Bas Nijhuis. The VAR ruled that Haller was offside shortly before, so that all of AZ could breathe a sigh of relief. Ajax was no longer able to equalize and had to swallow a defeat in the Eredivisie for the second time this season. At the beginning of October they were surprised at home by FC Utrecht (0-1). A bad general for the Champions League participant a week before De Classic against Feyenoord in De Kuip.