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Ajax has recovered from its European thriller at Stamford Bridge with a solid win over FC Utrecht. After an impressive first half and a conservative second half, Ajax extended their unbeaten run at home against a team that never really managed to put up a fight. For the second time this week Ajax put away four goals, while not conceding any at the other end: 4-0.
There were a few concerns coming from the Ajax camp ahead of the game, with Erik ten Hag portraying the opponents as “the best FC Utrecht side in years”. They had been on a three-game winning streak (including a 3-0 win over PSV and a 6-0 win over Fortuna Sittard), and are still the last Eredivisie club to beat Ajax in the JC Arena. On that day in 2017, when Utrecht walked away with a 1-2 victory, it was ten Hag who coached them, and Zakaria Labyad who scored twice for them. While Labyad has yet to find his footing in Amsterdam since Ten Hag brought him along, he actually started for Ajax today, replacing the seriously injured Neres and surprising many. It was his first appearance of the season, and he made a good impression.
The opening minutes of the game were very entertaining, as both teams had an energetic but wasteful start. It would not take long for Ajax to take control of the game, however, and they soon managed to pin their opponents to their own half, leaving them with no other options than to defend and hope for a counterattack. With an impressive display of passing and running, Ajax started to batter the Utrecht goal with shots, which led to a goal in the fourteenth minute. After attempts by Blind, Tadić, Martínez, Labyad, Tagliafico ánd Promes, it was Donny van de Beek who managed to open the scoring. He rewarded a good cross by Tadić with a powerful volley that found the back of the net.
Ajax did not take their foot off the gas and scored two more goals in the first half. Captain Tadić fired one into the roof of the goal from short range after some incredible preparatory work from Promes. The VAR had to be consulted to see whether Blind had fouled Sander van der Streek in the build-up, but he saw no harm and the goal stood. Fifteen minutes later Donny van de Beek scored his second of the day with a low driven shot from the edge of the box. The assist was Labyad, who was looking eager to score one himself as well. Ajax found almost no resistance from this FC Utrecht side, so anyone could hope for a goal.
Lisandro Martínez was aiming to get his name on the board as well. The Argentinian playmaker has been embraced by the team as well as the fans ever since he made his debut for the club, but was yet to score in his new jersey. He had come incredibly close in the first half when he hit the post and was denied once again in the second half. This time it was goalkeeper Paes who saved. From the corner kick that followed, however, Martínez was finally successful in front of the goal, celebrating like it wasn’t 3-0 already.
After scoring the fourth goal of the afternoon, Ajax clearly started slowing down, while not allowing the powerless FC Utrecht to pose any kind of threat to Onana. The visitors could not rely on the support of their away fans due to them boycotting the game, and only managed to shoot four times in the end: three times off-target, once comfortably saved. Ajax professionally played out the game and temporarily extended their lead in the Eredivisie to nine points.