Feb 15, 2024 at 10:59 PM Update: 2 hours ago
Ajax drew 2-2 in the first leg with FK Bodø/Glimt in the interim round of the Conference League on Thursday. Thanks to a late escape towards the return next week, the weakly playing team from Amsterdam still have plenty of prospects to continue.
Albert Grønbaek broke the ban in the Johan Cruijff ArenA after seventeen minutes. The midfielder shot well in the short corner. It happened as a result of a counter-attack by the reigning Norwegian national champion, who played his way through the Ajax defense with childish ease on several occasions.
After halftime, the same Grønbaek made it 0-2 after an error in the build-up by Tristan Gooijer, with which the match seemed decided. Before halftime, Chuba Akpom, who started in the starting line-up, had a great chance for Ajax and after halftime Akpom and Brian Brobbey came close again, but Amsterdam goals failed to materialize.
Ajax seemed to be heading for a hopeless defeat, but in the final phase Odin Luras Bjørtuft was sent off at Bodø/Glimt and the team from Amsterdam came through thanks to goals from Branco van den Boomen (penalty in the 90+1st minute) and Steven Berghuis (90+7th minute). minute) still at 2-2. Thanks to those late goals, Ajax still has plenty of prospects of reaching the eighth finals in Norway next week.
For the team of coach John van ‘t Schip, it is the second match in a row without a win. On Sunday, Ajax lost 3-2 at SC Heerenveen, putting third place in the Eredivisie and therefore Champions League football out of sight.
Ajax was heading for a painful home defeat for a long time, but turned things around in the final phase. Photo: Pro Shots
Van ‘t Schip intervenes after defeat
Van ‘t Schip intervened after the lost match against SC Heerenveen and started with Akpom and Rensch, who had recovered from an injury, instead of Carlos Forbs and Borna Sosa. The Ajax coach also positioned his team differently than usual: Rensch played at center back and Jorrel Hato as left back. Kristian Hlynsson started as left winger and Akpom at ‘ten’ behind striker Brobbey.
It did not have the desired effect, although Akpom did get its first big chance. The Englishman cleverly took the ball after a through ball from Berghuis and made a good shot, but his effort went via Bodø/Glimt goalkeeper Kjetil Haug and over the crossbar. Apart from shots from Jordan Henderson and Gooijer, it was practically Ajax’s only danger, in a very weak first half from an Amsterdam perspective.
The team from Amsterdam had more of the ball, but created little and gave up plenty of space on the counter-attack – as so often this season. Ajax was fortunate that Bodø/Glimt did not initially manage the dangerous outbreaks well. When he succeeded in the seventeenth minute, it was an immediate hit. Grønbaek, the Norwegians’ second most expensive purchase ever, launched an attack with a back heel and later finished in the short corner.
Julian Rijkhoff made his debut for Ajax. Photo: Pro Shots
Ajax strikes twice in the final phase
This made it painfully clear that the defensive vulnerability at Ajax has not been resolved, but has only been disguised by good results in recent weeks. The Bodø/Glimt players, especially before half time, must have had the feeling at times that they were facing pawns that did not intervene during Norwegian attacks. Van ‘t Schip did that at halftime: Sosa came into the team for the hesitant Rensch.
Ajax became a bit more dangerous after the break and missed several chances to equalize after an hour of play. Brobbey came close and Akpom was released in front of the Norwegian goalkeeper, but decided to cut again and lost the ball. On the other hand, it was a hit. Grønbaek stole the ball from Gooijer, who could not correct his mistake and was punished by the same Grønbaek.
The Norwegians seemed to decide the match, but Ajax – where Julian Rijkhoff made his debut – showed resilience and came back in the final phase. First Brobbey earned a penalty, which was used by Van den Boomen. Bodø/Glimt also had to continue with ten men. That proved fatal for the Norwegians, because in the final minute Berghuis lobbed the ball over the Norwegian goalie into the goal: 2-2.
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2024-02-15 21:59:38
#Ajax #draws #BodøGlimt #miraculous #escape #injury #time #Football
