Ajax got off to a strong start at home, with shots at goal from Steven Berghuis and Kristian Hlynsson. Both efforts came from the second row and looked dangerous for a while.
Sadly, though, Brighton & Hove Albion made it 1-0 seemingly out of nowhere. Silvano Vos lost possession midfield to Joao Pedro who found Ansu Fati from a pass. He stayed cool and nudged it past Diant Ramaj to score the opening goal.
Ajax didn't look too happy to be trailing. Yet John van 't Schip's team really couldn't get their act together before half time.
Sending Chuba Akpom on for Kenneth Taylor in the second half, Van 't Schip was trying for a breakthrough. The goal was scored at the other end, however. Again nothing stood in the way of Simon Adingra scoring. The winger fired the ball hard at an angle past Ramaj, making it 2-0. The English team then had a great chance thanks to Kaoru Mitoma and others, but the Japanese midfielder shot over the bar. That was the end of any momentum for Brighton.
Ajax tried going on the offensive one more time. Brobbey came extremely close to scoring an equaliser at one point. The striker hit the inside of the post and could only watch as the ball rolled painfully slowly along the line towards the other post. This meant former Ajax player Joël Veltman was able to clear it away. Akpom also had a good shot at goal in the closing stages. His effort was just a little too close to the centre of the goal. This meant goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was able to punch the ball away with his fists.
Ajax - Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 (0-1)
15. Fati 0-1
53. Adingra 0-2
Ajax: Ramaj, Gaaei (56. Sosa), Rensch (78. Mikautadze), Šutalo, Hato, Vos, (73. Tahirović), Hlynsson, (57. Forbs), Taylor (46. Akpom), Berghuis, Brobbey, Bergwijn
