Ajax has one point left in the first Europa League match in Group B. In the Johan Cruijff ArenA, coach Maurice Steijn’s team managed to score three times, but those goals were not enough to beat Olympique Marseille: 3-3. Amsterdam’s goal production was provided by Carlos Forbs, Steven Berghuis and Kenneth Taylor, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice on behalf of L’OM; Jonathan Clauss was also accurate. Substitute Silvano Vos was sent off with a second yellow card in injury time.
Jay Gorter defended the Amsterdam team’s goal and saw a four-man defense in front of him. Gaaei was preferred to the right back position over the slightly injured Devyne Rensch, while Borna Sosa acted as left back. The heart of the defense was formed by Josip Sutalo and Jorrel Hato. Taylor was the block in midfield with Benjamin Tahirovic, while Steven Berghuis was on 10. Wingers Forbs (right) and Steven Bergwijn (left) flanked striker Brian Brobbey.
Ajax took the lead in the eighth minute. Carlos Forbs took advantage of a misunderstanding at the back at Marseille, where a long ball from Jay Gorter was poorly processed. Forbs headed the ball through to himself and, after a long rush, finished one-on-one with Pau López: 1-0. It became even better for Ajax when Steven Berghuis scored beautifully from a drop-kick in the twentieth minute after a passed cross from Borna Sosa: 2-0. Ajax’s lead would not last long.
Jonathan Clauss found space in the 23rd minute to dribble into the Amsterdam team’s penalty area. The emerging right back scored with a convincing diagonal shot towards the far corner: 2-1. Marseille then missed enormous opportunities: Iliman Ndiaye hit the crossbar and Aubameyang saw his marker turned one-on-one with Jay Gorter. Aubameyang scored seven minutes before half-time from a kind of sliding from sixteen meters, when there was again a lot of space behind Ajax’s defense: 2-2. Shortly before half-time, a gigantic free chance followed for Marseille midfielder Azzedine Ounahi, who shot at Gorter from close range.
Within a few minutes of the restart, the home team regained the lead. After a nice run and ditto cross from the right flank, the ball ended up with Taylor, who scored effectively at the penalty spot: 3-2. It then seemed to be Marseille’s turn again when Aubameyang was able to finish from close range, but he fired well over. The match continued to wave back and forth at a high pace and on the other side Ajax was almost certain to score a goal again. Brobbey escaped on the right flank and served Steven Bergwijn, but the captain shot the ball straight at Pau López.
Although it seemed for a long time in the second half that Ajax had the match under control, Marseille suddenly struck again fifteen minutes before the end. Aubameyang was given the freedom to cut into the penalty area from the left flank, after which he scored the 3-3 with a hard shot via Gorter’s fingertips. In the final minute of regular playing time, Taylor had a gigantic chance to score the winning goal; however, his attempt from close range went over. Bergwijn’s shot also did not end up between the posts. Ajax ended the match with ten men: in injury time, Vos received his second yellow card after a foul on Vitinha.