Ajax set new Eredivisie win record with 13-0 drubbing of VVV

Ajax achieved the biggest Eredivisie win in history on Saturday as VVV Venlo were destroyed 13-0. 

The reigning Dutch champions went into the clash one point behind PSV and with the chance to regain the summit after recording four wins and a draw in their opening five matches. 

But while Ajax were favourites to prevail against VVV, who sat 10th in the standings, nobody could have predicted the dominant manner of their victory as the hosts were simply swept away. 

Jurgen Ekkelenkamp opened the scoring for Ajax after 13 minutes and Lassina Traore swooped with a double before Dusan Tadic netted to give the away team a 4-0 winning margin when the half-time whistle sounded. 

It was not until VVV were reduced to 10 men six minutes into the second half due to veteran defender Christian Kum's red card, however, that the floodgates really opened. 

Ajax proceeded to add nine more to their tally in the space of 32 minutes, at a rate of a goal every three and a half minutes. 

Traore hit three more after the break to take his personal haul to five, while there was another goal for Ekkelenkamp and Brazilian midfielder Antony also beat hapless VVV keeper Delano van Crooij. 

In no mood to let their rivals off the hook, Ajax proceeded to send Klaas-Jan Huntelaar into the game and the forward obliged with two goals of his own, one from the penalty spot; while fellow substitute Lisandro Martinez also found the net. 

And, with Ajax having recorded a total of 45 shots, 23 on target, VVV might feel that their defeat could have been even more comprehensive than the final scoreline suggest.

Saturday's thrashing marked Ajax's biggest-ever win in the Dutch top flight, surpassing May 1972's 12-1 win over Vitesse. 

That match was also the Eredivisie record holder for largest winning margin. 

But the result was not quite emphatic enough to set a new milestone for Ajax's biggest win in history, a mark that is still held by their 1984 UEFA Cup destruction of Luxembourg's Red Boys Differdange which finished 14-0 in favour of the Dutch giants. 

Ajax now sit two points clear of PSV at the Eredivisie summit, although the Eindhoven side can reclaim top spot should they beat Vitesse on Sunday. 

The two giants look set to compete neck and neck for the Dutch title - in which case, Ajax might just be thankful for the boost in their goal difference provided by this historic triumph.