Battered Ajax comes closer to title with victory over PEC Zwolle

League-leader Ajax now has a 7-point lead over PSV, which will still play against Willem II on Sunday. The club from Amsterdam still plays against AZ, sc Heerenveen and Vitesse in the last three rounds. Ajax has now won fourteen of the last fifteen league matches. But that series doesn’t tell the whole story. In six of the last eight matches, the difference was only a goal, which was often made in the final phase.

Contrary to what the result suggests, the victory over the PEC, which was fighting against relegation, did not come easily. The injured Antony, Lisandro Martínez, Noussair Mazraoui, Perr Schuurs and Remko Pasveer were not available yet. A starting spot came too early for Edson Álvarez, Steven Berghuis and Devyne Rensch. Trainer Erik ten Hag had no right winger left and therefore decided to opt for a different system. Sébastien Haller and Dusan Tadic were the strikers of the home team. Mohammed Kudus and Kenneth Taylor had to end up in possession on the flanks.

Due to a lack of fast attackers, Ajax tried to disrupt the defense of PEC Zwolle in combination. That didn’t create many chances at first. The greatest opportunities for rest were for PEC Zwolle. Chardi Landu should have scored with a header after 40 seconds and Daishawn Redan rushed over. Thanks to Dusan Tadic, Ajax led halfway through. The captain scored nicely in the 31st minute, on a pass from Taylor.

Tadic broke a club record during the duel with PEC Zwolle. Since his arrival in the summer of 2018, he has not missed a single league match for Ajax. He played his 124th game in a row in the Eredivisie against PEC Zwolle. Gert Bals got stuck in a series of 123 competition matches between 1965 and 1969. Youri Regeer can only dream of Tadic’s record. The 18-year-old right back was allowed to start with Ajax in the Eredivisie for the first time.

Davy Klaassen gave Ajax a little more breath in the 51st minute, after Jurriën Timber had hit the post. Haller was allowed to count on the fact that he didn’t quite decide the game for open goal. In the end Klaassen did sign for a nice 3-0 in the 80th minute.