Ajax cruised to victory in Tuesday's rearranged match against Willem II. The Amsterdam crowd lapped up a dominant display at the Johan Cruyff ArenA as the score climbed to 5-1. The gap to leaders PSV is now 3 points.
Somewhat surprisingly, coach Míchel Sánchez made six changes to Ajax's starting XI. Maarten Paes came in for Marc ter Stegen in goal, while Owen Wijndal, Thilo Kehrer, Lucas Rosa, Jorthy Mokio and Kasper Dolberg also started. Willem II named the same side that faced AZ in their previous match.
Right from the off, the pattern was obvious: Ajax drove forward and Willem II sank deep into their own half. Chances quickly followed for the Amsterdam side. Dolberg fired wide after good work from Brandt, Steven Berghuis just failed to get on the end of a Gloukh cross, and Gloukh himself then spurned a big opening after a sharp run forward.
Waiting for the counter, Willem II did threaten through Tonny Vilhena, but Ajax kept turning the screw. Klaassen drew a save from Maxime Delanghe, while Berghuis wasted a promising break. Five minutes before half-time, Ajax finally made it count: Dolberg picked out the perfect cut-back and Klaassen swept home for 1-0.
That left Willem II reeling, and the second goal arrived almost immediately. Brandt again showed his class, cutting inside past Per van Loon before finishing with conviction. Ajax had everything under control by then and went into the dressing room in complete comfort.
After the break, Ajax eased off slightly but still added to the scoreline. Tsygankov, on as a substitute, turned in Gloukh's assist for Amsterdam's third goal. The Israeli then capped his own display with a goal for 4-0.
Completely out of the game, Willem II still found a consolation goal. Chido Obi and Uriël van Aalst combined well before Alessandro Ciranni tapped into the empty net for 4-1. Dolberg had the final say, reacting quickest to a rebound to make it 5-1.