Ajax got away well against Besiktas in the second half, according to analysts Wesley Sneijder, Jan Boskamp and Rafael van der Vaart. After just over an hour of play, Kenan Karaman scored, but in the eyes of referee Benoît Bastien he gave Jurriën Timber an illegal push. As a result, Ajax remained on a 2-0 lead, which was eventually also pulled over the line.
“Imagine it will be 2-1…”, says Boskamp in the studio of RTL7. He thinks “nobody would say anything” if the situation wasn’t closed. “It’s a push to the side, a push on the shoulder,” Sneijder adds. “If he doesn’t whistle and let the action continue, you get a VAR check and normally the goal isn’t disallowed.” Bee Ziggo Sports Van der Vaart comes to the same conclusion. “I don’t know what the ref saw, but he whistled before he started shooting. Normally you wait a while before he goes in. I didn’t find anything wrong here, to be honest.”
Sneijder about rejected goal Besiktas: “I don’t think there is much going on here.”#AJABES #UCL pic.twitter.com/STZZuYYR4x
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Besiktas scored the disallowed goal in a phase in which Ajax was less good in the match. Boskamp describes the performance of the team from Amsterdam in the second half as ‘very mediocre’. “They were going to be difficult, give heels, you name it. Besiktas even got into the game a bit. The second half was not to be watched.” Sneijder was less annoyed by the technical feats. “That is also a bit inherent in a match like this. You are leading 2-0 and it goes quite easily. Then you start having a bit of trouble.”
“It’s about the result,” continues Sneijder. “I even had the feeling that they took a step back in the second half and didn’t put so much energy into it anymore. They just played football and knew the game was over. You have to focus on the weekend again.” However, Boskamp thinks that Ajax has not got enough out of the match. “You are just messing around in the second half. You have opportunities to go even further. They got two or three more options for that.”