FC Utrecht did not succeed in putting a spanner in the Ajax wheel. In the Johan Cruijff ArenA head coach Dick Advocaat’s team were defeated this afternoon (Sunday) 4-1 by trainer coach Erik ten Hag’s team, who took an advance on the championship with this result.
Scoring a goal in the first minute of the match by the visiting team in the Eredivisie. It was FC Twente who got away with that in 1997 and since then no other team had managed to do it. Until this afternoon. Othmane Boussaid was the one who scored for FC Utrecht after 38 seconds. The Belgian curled the ball into the far corner, out of reach for André Onana: 0-1. Euphoria in the away section, where 645 FC Utrecht supporters had taken their seats, and deathly pale faces with the other visitors in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. With two rounds to go of the season the Amsterdammers could not afford to lose any points with a view to the championship.
Tadic decides the match
FC Utrecht did everything they could to make life difficult for the Ajax players, but they could not prevent the players from the capital city from taking home the three points in the end. It was an exciting match until fifteen minutes before the end, but when Tadic scored 3-1 after receiving the ball from a corner, each and every Utrechter in the stadium knew that it was going to be very difficult. Five minutes later, Tadic cashed in on a penalty after Rico Strieder had fouled Hakim Ziyech, and Ajax gave the Utrechters the final blow.
Fight back
And though the victory was above any criticism, there had been moments when FC Utrecht had opportunities to put Ajax against the wall. Also after the 1-1 (Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, after fifteen minutes’ play) and the 2-1 (Donny van de Beek, just before halftime) there were chances. There was an excellent Sean Klaiber shot, an attempt by Willem Janssen after a corner, a shot by Sander van de Streek that went just wide and an opportunity for Nick Venema to shoot on goal.
Jensen key player
David Jensen was far busier than Onana. The FC Utrecht keeper repeatedly showed some excellent reflexes and beautiful saves and presented his best side in Amsterdam, where he prevented among others Ziyech, Van de Beek and Tadic from scoring.
Wednesday : sc Heerenveen at home
FC Utrecht can now focus on Wednesday. Sc Heerenveen will then visit Stadium Galgenwaard and it will become clear which position the Utrechters will take at the end of the season and which team will be their opponent in the semi-final of the play-offs for European football. Tickets for the match against sc Heerenveen that starts at 19:30 hrs are available via INTERNET and in the FC Utrecht fan shop.
Ajax - FC Utrecht 4-1 (2-1)
1. Othmane Boussaid 1-0
15. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 1-1
45+1. Donny van de Beek 2-1
75. Dusan Tadic 3-1
80. Dusan Tadic (penalty) 4-1
Yellow cards: Nicolás Tagliafico (Ajax), Riechedly Bazoer, Timo Letschert, Willem Janssen, Sander van de Streek (FC Utrecht).
Attendance: 53,520.
Referee: Pol van Boekel.
Line-up Ajax:
André Onana; Joël Veltman, Matthijs de Ligt, Daley Blind, Nicolás Tagliafico; Frenkie de Jong, Noussair Mazraoui (72. Lasse Schöne), Donny van de Beek; Hakim Ziyech (85. Daley Sinkgraven), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (90. Lassina Traoré), Dusan Tadic.
Line-up FC Utrecht:
David Jensen; Sean Klaiber, Timo Letschert (58. Emil Bergström), Willem Janssen, Nicolas Gavory; Rico Strieder, Simon Gustafson, Riechedly Bazoer (66. Lukas Görtler); Gyrano Kerk, Sander van de Streek, Othmane Boussaid (46. Nick Venema).
