Ajax has moved four points clear at the top of the Eredivisie after a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Willem II.

Ajax went into the game looking to take advantage of the defeats suffered by title rivals Feyenoord, Vitesse Arnhem and AZ Alkmaar this week. However, Erik ten Hag decided to hand Dusan Tadic a rest with Edson Alvarez making a rare start.

Gery Vink was in charge of Willem II after the sacking of Adrie Koster and he saw his side frustrate Ajax in the first-half. The hosts were poor and struggled to create many chances. Sebastian Haller deflected Daley Blind’s shot onto the bar, while Davy Klaassen put an overhead kick wide.

At the break, TadIc replaced Quincy Promes and in the 51st minute, Klaassen hooked the ball into the net to make it 1-0. It was his 50th goal for the club.

The lead did not last long before Vangelis Pavlidis equalised for Willem II following a lovely move.

Jorn Brondeel then denied Haller with an excellent save as Ajax went looking for the lead again. Ten Hag turned to Brian Brobbey and and striker turned out to be the match winner.

Within a minute of coming on, Brobbey slotted in a cross to make it 2-1. The striker, who has still not signed a new contract with the club, then set up Tadic to make it 3-1 and seal the victory.

Ajax moves four points clear at the top of the table while Willem II are still 17th.




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