PSV Eindhoven has moved five points clear at the top of the Eredivisie after defeating Ajax 3-0 in the Philips Stadion.
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Ajax were dealt a major blow before kick-off with Matthijs de Ligt ruled out through injury. Frenkie de Jong once again started in defence, while Carel Eiting came into midfield. Mark van Bommel named the same eleven that beat ADO Den Haag 7-0 last weekend.
PSV put the Ajax defence under pressure from the start and after Luuk de Jong and Hirving Lozano had missed chances, Gaston Pereiro opened the scoring. Steven Bergwijn’s initial effort was kept out by Andre Onana, but on the rebound, Pereiro put it through the goalkeeper’s legs.
Four minutes later, Lozano caused chaos in the Ajax defence and that allowed Luuk de Jong to get in behind and fire PSV 2-0 in front. Hakim Ziyech and Daley Blind then had attempts for Ajax, but it was 3-0 for PSV in the 34th minute. Bergwijn had a shot kept out but the winger placed the rebound at the feet of Lozano and he tapped in.
Erik ten Hag hooked Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Lasse Schone at the break with Kasper Dolberg and Donny van de Beek entering the field. The changes helped Ajax gain some control but it didn’t result in chances.
In the 61st minute, Luuk de Jong went down after an elbow in the chest by Onana but instead of a penalty, the striker was shown a yellow card.
Ryan Gravenberch came off the bench for Ajax to become the club’s youngest ever debutant at 16-years and 130 days, but the midfielder couldn’t inspire his side as PSV comfortably saw out their victory.
Van Bommel’s side maintains their perfect start to the league campaign with six wins out of six, while Ajax are five points adrift after their first loss of the season.
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He has a great future ahead of him, but there’s no way Frenkie de Jong should be playing CB. He kept a clean sheet against AEK but that side’s attacking quality was extremely poor.
De Jong had a hand in all 3 PSV goals, not just the 2-0 gaff. Bergwijn burned him for pace on the moves that set up the 1st and 3rd goals. On the 1st, he hesitates and tries to play the angle rather than going out to challenge Bergwijn. He didn’t deal well with aerials either and is clearly not confident in this role. Ten Haag should have swapped Wober for Eiting right after the 2-0 and put De Jong in midfield, but he was too slow to react and paid the price. At 3-0 it was game over.
That aside, PSV outplayed Ajax overall. Hendrix and Rosario did a good job disrupting the Ajax MF, and credit to Van Bommel’s tactics. His side exploited aerials, counterattacks, and the pace of its wingers to great effect.