Just days after losing 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt, Ajax turned up at the MAC³PARK Stadion in Zwolle for game week 25 of the Dutch Eredivisie. On Saturday night, PSV grabbed their first league win since January 25th, and Ajax knew only a win would keep their 8-point lead alive.
Meeting a PEC Zwolle side who hadn't won a league game in four attempts, Ajax played their first full game without first goalkeeper Remko Pasveer after the 41-year-old injured his groin in last Thursday's Europa League game. Braga loanee Matheus stepped up for his third consecutive Eredivisie start after joining the Dutch giants in January.
A barely entertaining first half saw Ajax lose a pivotal piece as striker Brian Brobbey had to leave the game with a knee injury, leaving Bertrand Traore as the only striker option for manager Francesco Farioli.
Former Ajax youth product Olivier Aertssen nearly opened the scoring within 20 minutes, but the PEC Zwolle defender couldn't profit from Matheus letting a cross from a corner slip through his hands. Ajax winger Mika Godts then tested Jesper Schendelaar with a blistering effort, but the PEC goalkeeper kept his goal clean to end the opening half.
Fifteen eventless minutes after the break, PEC Zwolle defender Anselmo Garcia Mac Nulty hit the ball with his hand after Kenneth Taylor tried his luck. Referee Bas Nijhuis was told to review the incident by VAR Alex Bos and swiftly gave Ajax a penalty.
Taylor himself stepped up for his eighth goal of the Eredivisie season and beat Schendelaar with a crisp finish in the top left corner, putting Ajax in front after an hour of playing.
Unable to create many big chances, Ajax found themselves grinding out the match after Steven Berghuis failed to beat Schendelaar from the edge of the box and Bertrand Traore converted from an offside position. Thomas Buitink got close to equalising in the 92nd minute, but the former Vitesse man couldn't put his team alongside the league leaders.
Ajax left Zwolle with a gritty win and kept their 8-point lead in the Eredivisie as they head into a crucial week with games against Eintracht Frankfurt and bogey team AZ.
Go Ahead Eagles and FC Twente grab wins
Elsewhere in the Eredivisie, Go Ahead Eagles snatched a win in Nijmegen after beating home side NEC 2-3. Dean James and Milan Smit put Go Ahead Eagles up 2-0 after 66 minutes of playing. Playing with 10 men thanks to Lasse Schone's two yellow cards in the space of five seconds, NEC drew one back after Brayann Pereira saw Dean James massively deflected an effort from distance, leaving goalkeeper Jari De Busser hopeless.
Leaving nothing up to fate, Oliver Antman calmly and fiercely fired the ball past Robin Roefs after the home side could not get the ball away. Kento Shiogai pulled one back for NEC in injury time, but the Nijmegen side left it too late.
In the last Eredivisie fixture of the weekend, FC Twente faced off with last-placed Almere City FC in their own Grolsch Veste. Fifht-placed Twente beat lowly Almere 1-0 thanks to a tap-in from Eredivisie top goalscorer Sem Steijn in the 19th minute.
Twente jumped up to fourth, overtaking Feyenoord during their weekend off as the Rotterdam side rest up for their away game in Milan against Inter.
