Ajax continued their good start to the season with a 3-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar at the AFAS Stadion.
- By Michael Bell
- Follow Michael on Twitter
Frank de Boer’s men started brightly, and AZ goalkeeper Alvarado had to make stops from both Ricardo Kishna, and Ruben Ligeon, but after 15 minutes Ajax had the lead. After a string of passes, started by the excellent Daley Blind, Lasse Schone sent Davy Klaassen through on the right hand side, and the midfielder calmly finished into the bottom corner.
The goal woke AZ Alkmaar up, and Muamer Tankovic came inches away from finding the equaliser with a flicked header from a free kick, which trickled just wide.
Five minutes into the second half the home side did draw level through winger Steven Berghuis, who slotted into the net after some sloppy defending from Ajax.
Before the hour mark Lasse Schone restored Ajax’s lead, with the midfielder allowed to cut in from the right before sending a powerful strike into the bottom corner.
Ajax then squandered chance after chance to put the game to bed, with Kolbeinn Sigthorsson wasting two one-on-one situations, and hitting the bar from a corner. AZ midfielder Marcus Henriksen almost made Ajax pay for their sloppiness, but his header landed just wide of Jasper Cillessen’s goal.
Finally in the 90th minute impressive substitute Anwar El Ghazi sent an unstoppable strike into the top corner to seal a 3-1 win for Ajax. The Amsterdam side make it two from two, while Marco van Basten’s suffers his first defeat as AZ Alkmaar boss.
Ajax will now prepare to host PSV Eindhoven next week which is a mouth watering tie between the two title favourites.
Follow
Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter
