It was a feeling-out process in the early stages. Ajax had a lot of ball possession and visually dominated, but the tightly-grouped FC Utrecht allowed little space. Even so, top scorer Brobbey found the mark six minutes before the break. Ahmetcan Kaplan sent Borna Sosa running on the left wing. The Croat let the ball bounce once and then served it up on a platter for Brobbey, who was able to pull the trigger: 1-0.
After over an hour of play, Brobbey had a good chance of his second of the afternoon, but hit the side of the net. Thirteen minutes before regulation time, the 2-0 did come.
A long ball from Diant Ramaj was ejected by FC Utrecht. Taylor found the rebound and played it straight to Brobbey. The Ajax striker fed the ball back to Taylor and the midfielder neatly slid it in for 2-0.
With ten men
In the 83rd minute, Ajax was actually reduced to ten men. Devyne Rensch was shown a red card after a foul on Sam Lammers, but there was no further threat to Ajax's win.
Ajax – FC Utrecht 2-0 (1-0)
39. Brobbey 1-0
77. Taylor 2-0
Red card: 83. Rensch (Ajax)
Ajax: Ramaj; Gooijer, Rensch, Kaplan, Hato, Sosa; Henderson, Mannsverk (78. Van den Boomen), Taylor (89. Tahirović), Hlynsson; (84. Medić), Brobbey (89. Akpom)
