'I wasn't happy with myself!' – Why Julian Brandt refused to celebrate stunning Ajax volley
Brandt sparks emphatic Ajax response
Julian Brandt opened the scoring with a brilliant volley as Ajax secured a dominant 5-1 Eredivisie victory against Fortuna Sittard. Following a sharp save by Marc ter Stegen to deny Ole Romeny, the German playmaker struck on 35 minutes to set the visitors on their way.
Although Anthony Descotte equalised after the break, further goals from Thilo Kehrer, Davy Klaassen, Kasper Dolberg, and Youri Baas sealed a convincing win.
The result provided the ideal response for Ajax following their domestic defeat the previous week.
Playmaker explains lack of goal celebration
Despite breaking the deadlock with a spectacular effort, Brandt opted for a remarkably quiet celebration. Speaking to ESPN NL post-match, the 30-year-old revealed that frustration with his own early performance prevented him from celebrating wildly.
He admitted to making several careless mistakes in possession before finding the net.
"I wasn't really happy with my performance in the first half," Brandt explained. "I had some sloppy balls and easy passes that I wasn't happy with. For me, it was a moment to express my feelings instead of running around celebrating. I'm not that typical celebration guy anyway."
German midfielder urges squad to eliminate naive errors
Reflecting on the match flow, Brandt noted that Ajax allowed Fortuna to gain brief spells of control due to unnecessary giveaways. He warned his young team-mates that higher-calibre opponents will punish such lapses if they fail to sharpen their ball retention.
However, he praised the team's ability to smell danger around the box and execute a crucial door-opening goal.
"We have moments where we have sloppy mistakes in ball possession, a little bit naive sometimes," Brandt noted. "It's normal with a lot of new, young players, but we have to work on avoiding these small things. If you concede goals in future games, it makes everything harder."
Brandt declares full fitness ahead of busy schedule
Addressing his physical condition, Brandt confirmed that he has finally reached 100% peak fitness after missing parts of pre-season training. He cited strong performance tracking data from recent matches against PEC Zwolle as proof that his sprinting and velocity metrics have fully recovered.
The midfielder emphasized that he feels completely prepared for the demanding schedule ahead.
"I'm at 100% now," Brandt added. "My physical data, like sprints and velocity, was really good. I'm ready for the busy week in front of us and hungry for more."
