Ajax took over the lead in the Eredivisie on Saturday evening at least for a while. The team of Erik ten Hag, who played in the black Bob Marley outfit for the first time, was taken by the hand by Sébastien Haller against PEC Zwolle. The center striker scored both goals and helped Ajax to a simple victory: 0-2. PSV can take over the lead from Ajax on Saturday by winning at AZ.
Ten Hag had to move through the many absentees at Ajax with his line-up. Maarten Stekelenburg was absent with an injury, which meant that Remko Pasveer made his Eredivisie debut for Ajax. Lisandro Martínez and Nicolás Tagliafico were also missing, leaving Daley Blind and Devyne Rensch left central and left back respectively. Davy Klaassen was injured, giving Steven Berghuis a chance at number ten.
Ajax tried it in the opening phase via Ryan Gravenberch, who placed the ball just wide after Berghuis put it back. A half bicycle kick from Sébastien Haller went far over. After a lot of sloppiness in the build-up at Ajax, which always just didn’t lead to great opportunities from PEC Zwolle, the team from Amsterdam managed to score after half an hour. Berghuis appeared on the left and put in a low lead on Sébastien Haller, who simply tapped in at the first post: 0-1. Zwolle itself had a good chance in the first half for Slobodan Tedic, who barely saw his header be tapped over by Pasveer.
Great opportunities were also scarce in the second half. Tedic tried with a volley from the turn, an effort that ended well wide. On the other side, Noussair Mazraoui was close after Berghuis hit the ball, but Ajax’s right back hit the outside of the post. A corner from Berghuis brought Ajax to a safe haven in the 67th minute. PEC Zwolle goalkeeper Kostas Lamprou was wrong, allowing Haller to head the ball into the empty goal: 0-2.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 10 |
| 2 | PSV | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 9 |
| 3 | FC Utrecht | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 4 | Feyenoord | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | SC Cambuur | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | sc Heerenveen | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | William II | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 8 | NEC | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 6 |
| 9 | Fortuna Sittard | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 10 | RKC Waalwijk | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Fc Groningen | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 4 |
| 12 | FC Twente | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 4 |
| 13 | AZ | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 14 | Go Ahead Eagles | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 3 |
| 15 | Vitesse | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -7 | 3 |
| 16 | Heracles Almelo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1 |
| 17 | Sparta Rotterdam | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 1 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |