Ajax ran into a loss of points against FC Twente on Sunday afternoon: 1-1. The reigning national champion made anything but a good impression in the atmospheric Grolsch Veste. Sébastien Haller gave Ajax the lead in the second half, but just before time Robin Pröpper saved a point for the home team with a long shot.
Ajax had a particularly difficult time with FC Twente on Sunday afternoon. Ron Jans’ team was very hard on the visitors and disrupted Ajax’s game with many minor violations. Partly because of this, the team from Amsterdam did not play well. Ten Hag’s team played at a slow pace and was sloppy in possession at times, so that there was no Ajax chance in the first half. The best chances for half time were for the home side. Queensy Menig created the most threat with his speed. He had two chances: the winger shot into the hands of Maarten Stekelenburg and headed wide from a scrimmage. Manfred Ugalde had a good shooting opportunity, but aimed over.
Things didn’t go well at Ajax and that led to irritation among the visitors. Davy Klaassen and Edson Álvarez escaped a red card. Klaassen waved his arm back in Giovanni Troupée’s face. Referee Dennis Higler penalized this action with a yellow card. After more than half an hour of play, Álvarez crossed the line. He emerged as the winner in a duel with Sadílek, after which Ajax sought the attack. Out of sight of Higler, Álvarez struck the Twente midfielder. Higler put the game on hold on the advice of VAR, but was not called to the side to assess the incident.
Twente was the most threatening team in the first 45 minutes and failed to take the lead just after the kick-off of the second half. Menig gave from the left flank to Michel Vlap, who hit the ball wrong and Stekelenburg was unable to test. Where Twente failed to score, Ajax only needed one chance. A cross from Daley Blind came through the heel of Robin Pröpper and the hand of Lars Unnerstall on the post, after which Sébastien Haller was in the right position to poke in from close range.
Immediately after Haller’s chance, Ten Hag made two substitutions: Ryan Gravenberch and Berghuis left the field in favor of Devyne Rensch and Antony. Gravenberch in particular looked very disappointed with his substitution. Ten Hag thought intervention was necessary, possibly because Twente started to play more and more optimistically. Jans’ team was emphatically looking for the equalizer. Despite the substitutions, Ajax could not get the match under control. With more than ten minutes left on the clock, Stekelenburg started stretching the time.
Twente kept chasing a goal. The fanatical home crowd incited the Tukkers to a final offensive. From time to time it became threatening for Stekelenburg’s goal, but the home team didn’t get any great opportunities. Until the 88th minute, when Robin Pröpper got the ball at his feet. Davy Klaassen came too late to keep the defender from a long shot and Stekelenburg had no chance on the hard bet: 1-1. Ten Hag immediately brought Danilo Pereira into the lines in the hope of still taking three points in Enschede. The substitute had a big chance in injury time, but Unnerstall made the save.