FC Twente remains number 3 in the Eredivisie, with a 5-point lead over AZ. Ajax climbed to fifth position, but can still be passed by NEC in the rankings later on Sunday.
Crisissfeer
Ajax started the match against FC Twente in a crisis atmosphere. About four hours before kick-off, the club announced that Annette Mosman, Georgette Schlick and Cees van Oevelen are resigning from the supervisory board. They have long been intimidated by the F-Side, the club’s hard core of supporters who believe that the trio has not been sufficiently supervised.
Mosman, Schlick and Van Oevelen are the next victims at Ajax, which prematurely said goodbye to director of football affairs Sven Mislintat, trainer Maurice Steijn, supervisory board chairman Pier Eringa and Chief Sports Officer Maurits Hendriks earlier this season.
Still, Ajax started the match quite well. Steven Bergwijn had a great chance to score the opening goal but ran into goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall. FC Twente got into the match better after half an hour. Michel Vlap’s header still lacked power, but Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored in the 31st minute after a measured cross from Daan Rots.
Resilience
Ajax showed resilience after the break. Brian Brobbey almost equalized and then seemed to receive a penalty, but the video referee corrected referee Serdar Gözübüyük and saw that Youri Regeer’s foul was just outside the penalty area. Kenneth Taylor was allowed to take a free kick and saw Brobbey head it home.
Gözübüyük was corrected again in the 81st minute after former Ajax player Anass Salah-Eddine had stepped on Devyne Rensch’s ankle. Bergwijn took the penalty kick that was awarded and made no mistake.
