Utrecht Ajax: Ajax Amsterdam continues its negative run at FC Utrecht. The 3-4 defeat against the bottom team in the Eredivisie was the fourth in a row for the capital city team. This means Ajax slips into a direct relegation zone.

On the 9th matchday of the Dutch Eredivisie, Ajax Amsterdam visited FC Utrecht, who lost all of their last three home games and only scored one goal. For Ajax, it was about turning things around against the bottom of the table and getting out of the bottom of the table.

Ajax coach Maurice Steijn changed to five positions compared to the 1:2 against AZ Alkmaar, three of which were in defense: Gaaei, Sutalo and ex-Stuttgart Sosa started for Rensch, Medic and Avila. Tahirovic and Hlynsson also moved into the starting line-up for Vos and Amourricho.

Utrecht leads at half time

The capital team lived up to their role as favorites at the start and consequently had their first good opportunity through Hlynsson (21′), whose shot from close range was deflected by Sagnan so that Barkas was able to hold on to the ball in the follow-up. On the other hand, it took until shortly before half-time for Utrecht to have a serious opportunity in an uneventful first half. Flamingo volleyed a failed header from Sosa from around 16 meters into the bottom left corner for a 1-0 half-time lead (44′).

Ajax turns the game around within 13 minutes

After the break, things got furious: First, the home team celebrated making it 2-0 after a header by van der Hoorn (48th). Since Gorter appeared to scratch the ball off the line, the referee initially hesitated, then decided on a goal and confirmed his decision after a VAR check.

But the Ajax reaction was not long in coming. With a sharp Sosa cross from the left, Hlynsson held out his chest from around seven meters and directed the ball into the goal for the goal (52nd). This was also the starting signal for a comeback by the capital city team, who equalized again just three minutes later through Hlynsson to make it 2-2 (55th). This was preceded by another cross from Sosa, which the Icelander delivered directly into the net. Just ten minutes later, Ajax even turned the game around. Bergwijn confidently converted a penalty kick (65th) to take the lead 3-2.

Utrecht equalizes and scores the winning goal after the game was interrupted

However, FC Utrecht quickly shook off the shock and restored the equalizer through Toornstra (71′) after a strong combination with Flamingo. 

Then the next excitement came when referee Dennis Higler interrupted the game for almost 14 minutes from the 89th minute onwards – the trigger was fans throwing objects onto the field behind the visitors’ goal. The home team took advantage of the short break: Shortly after the restart, Fraulo scored the opening goal (90th) to make it 4-3 against dismayed guests from Amsterdam, who made a major mistake in the build-up to the game and thus involuntarily initiated Utrecht’s goal.

What followed was the next interruption after the home team’s fans threw cups onto the field while celebrating. After the restart, that should have been it: the game ended 4-3, which meant Ajax slipped to second-to-last place (17th) in the table. Thanks to their first home win of the season, Utrecht moves up to 16th place ahead of the Dutch record champions, who will continue their Europa League campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday, October 26th (9 p.m., LIVE! on kicker). After that, the next away game in the league is against leaders PSV Eindhoven.

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