An 89th-minute penalty scored by Arkaduisz Milik saw Ajax come back from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw with Utrecht and stay ahead of PSV in the Eredivisie table.

aja utrFrank de Boer decided to employ a 4-3-3 formation against Utrecht, but his team looked disjointed from the start and struggled to trouble their opponents in the first half.

Utrecht, on the other hand, looked calm and created chances on the break with Sebastien Haller nearly opening the scoring in the first minute. On the stroke of half-time the visitors got the best chance of the game so far, but after getting the better of Daley Sinkgraven, Nacer Barazite rushed his effort and could only fire off target.

However, ten minutes into the second half Barazite did find the net to give Utrecht a shock lead. The striker fired Andreas Ludwig’s cross past Jasper Cillessen.

Ajax pushed forward looking for an equaliser with Riechedly Bazoer and Anwar El Ghazi coming close before substitute Vaclav Cerny hit the post.

On 74 minutes Patrick Joosten entered the field and the substitute thought he had sealed the victory for Utrecht ten minutes later as he thundered a strike from range past Jasper Cillessen to make it 2-0.

However a minute later Davy Klaassen pulled one back with a volley and just before stoppage time Ajax were awarded a soft penalty by Danny Makkelie after Milik went down following a good challenge from Willem Janssen. The Pole picked himself up to net the penalty and keep Ajax in charge of the title race.

Ajax stay top on goal difference, which is six more than PSV, heading into the midweek round of games. Ajax are away to Heerenveen while PSV host Vitesse.




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