Substitutes Tolu and Ouazane secure Ajax’s important first three points in the Conference League
Ajax claimed their first Conference League victory on Thursday evening. They dominated Atalanta for long spells at the Johan Cruyff ArenA but struggled to turn their chances into goals. Substitutes Tolu Arokodare and Abdellah Ouazane eventually struck to seal a deserved 2-0 win.
As in their 2-5 win over FC Groningen last Sunday, Ajax started with ten of the same players. Youri Baas replaced Dies Janse in central defence, while Davy Klaassen again played on the right flank and Marcos Leonardo got the nod ahead of Tolu Arokodare. Atalanta coach Maurizio Sarri opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Charles De Ketelaere behind striker Gianluca Scamacca.
After six minutes, Lucas Rosa's deflected shot struck the post as Ajax made a bright start. Klaassen then headed wide. Jorthy Mokio thought he had put Ajax ahead, but the referee ruled out his goal because Klaassen had been offside in the build-up.
Ajax kept creating chances with neat passing moves. Mokio forced a save from Carnesecchi with a powerful shot, while Marcos Leonardo fired wide after a quick transition. Oscar Gloukh had several chances to break the deadlock, but the Israeli either missed the target or found the Italian goalkeeper in his way.
Although Atalanta had chances of their own, including a shot wide from Scamacca after a corner, Ajax posed the greater threat before half-time. They had eleven attempts on goal to the Italians' seven. Carnesecchi made four saves, including one to deny Gloukh shortly before the break.
Ajax continued to press after half-time. Julian Brandt tested Carnesecchi from a difficult angle shortly after the restart, then headed a Rosa cross wide a few minutes later. Rosa had a gilt-edged chance of his own, but the Italian goalkeeper kept him out.
After an hour, Ajax escaped a possible penalty. Klaassen slid in to challenge Nicola Zalewski in his own penalty area, prompting Zalewski to go to ground and appeal. The Croatian referee ruled that the Ajax captain had touched the ball, and the VAR supported his decision.
Klaassen and Gloukh made way for Viktor Tsygankov and Abdellah Ouazane, while Tolu replaced the disappointing Marcos Leonardo in the 66th minute. Eleven minutes later, Tolu had a good chance after Brandt's build-up play, but struck his standing leg as he shot and sent the ball over the goal.
Ten minutes later, Tolu finally found the net. The Ajax striker skilfully controlled a long ball from Baas with his chest, ran through on goal and stayed ice-cool one-on-one with Carnesecchi to make it 1-0.
Ouazane then dribbled past his opponent on the left flank, reached almost to the byline and smashed the ball in off the underside of the crossbar to make it 2-0.
Having begun their European campaign last week with an embarrassing 2-1 defeat away to Hajduk Split, Ajax had their first three Conference League points thanks to their substitutes.
