Ajax will compete against Vitesse in the final of the TOTO KNVB Cup in De Kuip on April 18. The team from Amsterdam won the semi-final on Thursday at a visit to sc Heerenveen without any problems, because thanks to goals from Davy Klaassen, Dusan Tadic and substitute David Neres, the Abe Lenstra Stadium won 0-3. An apparent blot on the victory for Ajax, however, was the failure of Daley Blind and Klaassen: the former stayed behind in the dressing room at half time, while Klaassen had to be replaced during the second half.
Erik ten Hag could not appeal to Devyne Rensch, Nicolás Tagliafico and Noussair Mazraoui in Heerenveen. The first two were suspended, while Mazraoui has been out of circulation for a while due to problems with his eyesight. Jurriën Timber was posted as right back, while Perr Schuurs made his appearance in the center of defense alongside Lisandro Martínez. The rest of Ajax’s starting team was unchanged from the away match against PSV (1-1) and the team from Amsterdam played a strong first half in the Abe Lenstra Stadium.
The first opportunity was for Sébastien Haller, who shot over after a clever pass from Tadic. With nineteen minutes on the clock, Ajax already took the lead. A measured cross from Antony reached Klaassen, who placed the ball with his head in the far corner out of reach of goalkeeper Erwin Mulder. Ajax was supreme in the first half and was already given the necessary opportunities to increase the margin. Antony shot just wide and Klaassen saw a shot just go over, before the visitors seemed to have reached 0-2 immediately after half time.
Tadic got rid of Jan Paul van Hecke and found Klaassen in front of the goal, who tapped the ball into an empty goal. However, the captain of Ajax turned out to have made hands in the run-up to the goal, as a result of which referee Bas Nijhuis put a line through the goal after interference from the VAR. In the absolute final phase of the first half, Heerenveen showed itself for the first time, when an attempt by Siem de Jong ended up on the roof of the goal. At half-time Ten Hag replaced Blind with Sean Klaiber, after which Henk Veerman had the first opportunity. However, the striker failed to control the ball in a favorable position.
After an hour of play Ajax had to deal with a setback, when Klaassen could not continue and had to be replaced by Mohammed Kudus. The substitute was shortly afterwards involved in the second Amsterdam goal of the evening, after being knocked out by Pawel Bochniewicz inside the penalty area. Tadic fired the penalty kick given by Nijhuis hard into the left intersection. It turned out to be the start of a lively phase, because Heerenveen could have brought back the tension very quickly. Mitchell van Bergen walked away from Edson Álvarez after headlines from Henk Veerman, but ran into Maarten Stekelenburg.
On the other hand, Haller popped up near the edge of the penalty area, but his shot went straight for Mulder. After an attempt by Antony just went wide, Ajax put an end to all uncertainty with only fifteen minutes left on the clock. Haller put Neres, who came on for Antony, with the head free for Mulder and the Brazilian attacker then made no mistake. In the final phase there was no change in the 0-3 score, so Ajax reached the cup final. A home game against FC Groningen awaits the team from Amsterdam this Sunday, while Heerenveen will take on ADO Den Haag a day earlier.