| by Brent Tomassen
Ajax lost 2-3 to Feyenoord after a weak second half. The team from Amsterdam was still leading 2-1 at halftime after goals from Edson Álvarez and Dusan Tadic, but after the break John Heitinga’s team barely succeeded.
Ajax couldn’t have wished for a worse start to The Classic. The team from Amsterdam suffered a loss of possession in their own half, Feyenoord took over and Quillindschy Hartman put Santiago Giménez outlawed for Gerónimo Rulli. The keeper had no chance against the hard effort of the Feyenoord striker. Ajax quickly tried to recover and this resulted in a series of fouls by the team from Rotterdam. Hartman received the first yellow card of the match.
In the thirteenth minute Ajax had the first chance from a free kick after a foul on Mohammed Kudus. Steven Berghuis was allowed to moor, but shot wide. Four minutes later, a corner from Berghuis was successful. The midfielder put the ball on the head of Álvarez, who was able to head in outlawed.
Five minutes later, Steven Bergwijn was able to make it 2-1 after he came free in Feyenoord’s box, but Hartman blocked the shot. Feyenoord’s left back made many fouls and was close to his second yellow card. Arne Slot intervened and replaced the young defender for Marcos López.
After 37 minutes Ajax’s predominance was rewarded after another beautiful ball from Berghuis. The playmaker gave a beautiful deep ball to Bergwijn. The left winger kept the overview and placed the ball wide on the incoming Tadic, who pushed the ball between David Hancko’s legs behind goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther. After this, Ajax slowed down a bit, but managed to take the break with a 2-1 lead.
Bad start to the second half
After the break, Ajax even started less than how it ended the first half. That resulted in the equalizer after 52 minutes. Ajax was in their own box, a deflected ball was picked up by Alireza Jahanbakhsh and his cross was walked in by Sebastian Szymanski: 2-2.
Ajax hardly got any pressure on it and that was especially dangerous for Rulli’s nose. Substitutes Klaassen and Conceição brought fresh blood and that seemed to be successful. The substitutes combined into a chance and the ball fell at Kudus’ feet via Klaassen. He fired, but Wellenreuther was just able to save.
On the other hand, Feyenoord was the happiest. Hancko headed through a corner and Lutsharel Geertruida walked away cheering a second later. Feyenoord then stretched a lot of time and Ajax did not come up with a good attack. As a result, Ajax lost the Classic 2-3.
2:30 pm | Ajax – Feyenoord (2-3)
Setup Ajax:
Rulli; Sánchez, Timber, Bassey, Wijndal (64′ Conceição); Alvarez, Berghuis, Taylor; Kudus, Tadic, Bergwijn.
Substitutions Ajax:
Stekelenburg, Pasveer, Klaassen, Brobbey, Lucca, Grillitsch, Baas, Regeer, Fitz-Jim, Conceição, Hlynsson, Hato.
Line-up Feyenoord:
Wellenreuther; Geertruida, Trauner (64′ Pedersen), Hancko, Hartman (24′ López); Wieffer, Kökcü, Szymanski; Jahanbakhsh, Gimenez, Idrissi.
Substitutions Feyenoord:
Marciano, Troost, Kasanwirjo, Pedersen, Rasmussen, Lopez, Taabouni, Bullaude, Dilrosun, Paixão, Danilo.
goals:
0-1 Santiago Gimenez (5′)
1-1 Edson Álvarez (17′)
2-1 Dusan Tadic (37′)
2-2 Sebastian Szymanski (52′)
Particularities:
– Read our analysis of Feyenoord in the run-up to The Classic here!
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