Ajax manager John Heitinga put out a surprising starting XI for the home game against PEC Zwolle. Million-euro newcomers Oscar Gloukh, Raul Moro, and Kasper Dolberg were benched in favour of Youri Regeer, Mika Godts, and Wout Weghorst.
Josip Sutalo was also left on the bench as Ko Itakura was fit enough to start after his international games with Japan. Liverpool loanee James McConnell made his debut on the Ajax bench.
An eager Ajax side started the game with attacking intent as Wout Weghorst quickly got two big chances to open the scoring in Amsterdam, but Simon Graves blocked a shot for open goal, and goalkeeper Tom de Graaff foiled what looked like the clearest one-on-one Weghorst could ask for.
Instead, the opener came from Davy Klaassen, who underlined his nickname of 'Mister 1-0' with an expertly taken lob over De Graaff in the 18th minute.
Mika Godts made the most of his first Eredivisie start of the new season and provided much threat from the left side, where former Ajax academy player Olivier Aertssen could not contain the Belgian winger. Godts got several chances in the first half to double Ajax's lead, but saw one effort roll past the far post and the other fly wide.
Godts, who got the nod over the slightly unfit Raul Moro, doubled his side's lead in the 37th minute with an easy finish from a weighted deep ball from Kenneth Taylor.
PEC struggled to get anything going in the first half as the Zwolle outfit recorded a total possession of just 37% in the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
Ajax struggle after halftime
The roles switched after the break as Ajax struggled to replicate their impressive opening half. PEC, however, still did not create much in the opening 20 minutes.
Heitinga saw Ajax take a couple of steps back and introduced four new players after 67 minutes, bringing on James McConnell, Josip Sutalo, Oscar Gloukh, and Oliver Edvardsen for Regeer, Itakura, Taylor, and Berghuis.
The changes did not work from the get-go as PEC Zwolle finally got one back in the 69th minute via Kaj de Rooij, who profited from a bad pass from Josip Sutalo and easily put the ball past Viteszlav Jaros.
PEC had a big chance to equalise in Amsterdam, but Gabriel Reiziger, son of former Ajax full-back Michael Reiziger, headed the ball just wide of Jaros' post.
What was arguably the best half of football Ajax put on display this season was followed by their worst outing of 2025 - Heitinga's men took just two shots after the break until Mika Godts scored his second goal of the game in the 86th minute with what was Ajax's first attempt on target of the second half.
The Amsterdam outfit will feel like they got away with a big second-half collapse against PEC Zwolle, as the hosts will start preparations for their first UEFA Champions League game since 2022 when Inter visit the Johan Cruyff ArenA next Wednesday.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mika Godts (Ajax)
View all the statistics of Ajax-PEC Zwolle on Flashscore.
