Fortuna proves egg for Ajax, which wins and debuts two talents

Ajax is playing a difficult premier league season, but on Easter Sunday it was apples-to-apples against Fortuna Sittard. The Amsterdammers won 4-0 at the Johan Cruijff Arena thanks to goals by Steven Berghuis (2), Steven Bergwijn and Kenneth Taylor.

The victory means Ajax takes over second place from PSV on goal difference, which entitles them to the preliminary round of the Champions League. They remained eight points behind leader Feyenoord, which won 5-1 against RKC Waalwijk later in the day.

Ajax had already failed to win two matches in the Eredivisie (defeat against Feyenoord and a draw against Go Ahead Eagles), but earlier this week they tanked confidence. John Heitinga’s team reached the cup final with an eventful win over Feyenoord at De Kuip.

Berghuis opened the ball with a characteristic goal. The striker dribbled in from the right and curled the ball behind goalkeeper Ivor Pandur via the inside of the post. VAR took a quick look at a possible foul by Edson Álvarez, but found it too little to disallow the goal.

Watch reactions from John Heitinga, Steven Berghuis (Ajax) and technical manager Sjoerd Ars (Fortuna Sittard) below.

Dusan Tadic was able to double the score after 20 minutes after a wrong return ball from Rémy Vita. The Serbian captain had already passed the goalkeeper, but saw defender Rodrigo Guth head his effort out of the goal.

Moments later it was still 2-0 for Ajax, where Florian Grillitsch surprisingly started. After another fumble by Vita, Berghuis was able to fire in his second of the match.

Bergwijn, the record acquisition who is having a difficult first season, made his presence felt after halftime. With some fortune, the striker shot in on a pass from Berghuis.

Right back Jorge Sánchez was one of the standouts for the Amsterdammers for a change, almost providing the fourth goal with an overhead kick (just wide). At the other end, Dimitris Siovas was close to scoring 3-1, but his header deflected off the crossbar.

Taylor determined the final score at 4-0. The midfielder shot hard after an assist from Berghuis, who was thus involved in all of Ajax’s goals.

The Arena crowd cheered twice more when Heitinga allowed 18-year-old Silvano Vos and 17-year-old Mika Godts to make their debuts. There were no more goals, although Vos came close with a shot just wide.