More than three points were at stake in Waalwijk for Ajax. The champion found himself in third place in the Eredivisie in the afternoon thanks to victories of both Feyenoord and PSV. This was partly the result of Ajax’s lack of return in the last Eredivisie matches, when trainer Erik ten Hag’s team did not score against Overijssel clubs Heracles and Go Ahead Eagles and lost four points (0-0). Partly because of this, the Ajax players fanned out with a bitter aftertaste for international matches, despite the beautiful Champions League series of four resounding victories.
With numerous World Cup tickets in his pocket, the hunt for the competitors and a more productive period started. For a moment, an old shortcoming seemed to start playing tricks on Ajax again, when Haller, hidden away by Ryan Gravenberch, misjudged the RKC goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen who had come out and Dusan Tadic shot past in a promising position.
After more than fifteen minutes of play, the striker showed himself and again Ajax’s codebreaker, by cleverly extending a cross from Tadic (tenth assist) into the long corner. Earlier this year, also on the captain’s instructions, he had already crowned himself the match winner in Waalwijk with an acrobatic feat. Haller broke the spell for Ajax in the Eredivisie for the ninth time this calendar year with his striking headbutt, after his team failed to score for more than two hundred minutes.
The opening goal was preceded by a lot of preparatory work by Blind. The left back also played a leading role in the second Amsterdam goal, after Remko Pasveer prevented the third (!) goal this season with an unparalleled reflex on a header by Michiel Kramer. Blind set up the attack himself again, to give Berghuis an unmissable chance on the goal line after a combination with Tadic: 0-2. The shadow striker missed the home game with Go Ahead and the last qualifying matches of the Orange squad for the World Cup due to hip complaints. In Brabant, Berghuis immediately paid off Ten Hag’s confidence by shooting in the 0-3 from the rebound.
Jurriën Timber then scored the fourth goal on the instruction of the brought in Mohamed Daramy, after which Haller owed his second goal of Sunday and his ninth in the Eredivisie this season to another substitute, David Neres: 0-5. That was it because Haller missed a big chance at a hat-trick and Zakaria Labyad saw a nice bicycle kick on the crossbar in his first minutes this season.
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