The match, which took place in Eindhoven, started slowly. Ajax carefully looked for openings in the defensive block set by PSV, which were hard to come by in the initial phase. After thirty minutes, the deadlock was broken. Danilo was already warming up to replace the injured Brian Brobbey when the striker headed in a cross from Tadic. It was his last contribution of the afternoon.
Eight minutes into the second half, Jurriën Timber made a costly mistake. The defender gave the ball away to PSV’s Gakpo. The ball ended up with Mario Götze who worked a shot past both Edson Alvarez and Remko Pasveer’s outstretched arm.
The goal added the extra bit of energy that the match seemed to lack earlier on. The intensity picked up and more chances came for both teams. Ajax got a number of smaller opportunities via Steven Berghuis and Ryan Gravenberch, but were unable to capitalize.
In the 74th minute, Mazraoui scored the 1-2 with a beautiful shot from outside the box. In the build up there were doubts over if the ball had stayed inbounds. The VAR took a long time to review the images and was unable to conclude that the ball had left the pitch. The goal stood and proved decisive for the game.
PSV – Ajax 1-2 (0-1)
34. Brobbey 0-1
53. Götze 1-1
74. Mazraoui 1-2
Ajax: Pasveer; Mazraoui (90+2. Rensch), Timber, Alvarez, Martínez, Blind; Alvárez, Gravenberch (70. Klaassen); Antony, Brobbey (34. Danilo), Tadic
