Ajax Women suffered a 1-0 defeat to WFC Aktobe on Wednesday. American forward Morgan Rees scored the only goal of the match with just a few minutes remaining. Thanks to last week's convincing 8-0 home victory, however, the Ajax side have secured their place in the main tournament of the UEFA Women's Europa Cup.
Ajax Women were dominant throughout the match, but struggled to create clear-cut chances during the first half. Sophie te Brake came closest to opening the scoring in Kazakhstan with a long-range effort.
The pattern of play remained exactly the same after the break. Ajax Women enjoyed most of the possession but were unable to find a way through the WFC Aktobe defence. Ella Touon attempted to beat Zukhra Tolibekova with a shot towards the near post, but the goalkeeper was not caught out.
It was Morgan Rees who produced the surprise in Kazakhstan. Spotting Ajax goalkeeper Danae van der Vliet slightly off her line, she tried her luck from distance and found the net. The American's effort sailed over the Ajax keeper to make it 1-0.
Despite continued pressure from Ajax, the score remained unchanged. The defeat had no impact on the overall outcome of the tie, however, as Ajax progressed to the knockout stage of the UEFA Women's Europa Cup. The draw for the competition will take place on Friday.
International break
Ajax return to Eredivisie action on Sunday with an away match against Feyenoord in Rotterdam. Following that fixture, Ajax Women will head into the international break.
WFC Aktobe - Ajax Women 1-0 (0-0)
83. Rees 1-0
Ajax Women: Van der Vliet; Otterman, Knol, Noordermeer, Te Brake (57. Kees); Touon (64. Visscher), Noordam (57. Sweers), Van Hensbergen; Smits, Snoeijs (46. Deitelzweig Sr. / 78. Thomas), Barendsz
Ajax Women crushed WFC Aktobe on Wednesday evening in the first leg. Anouk Bruil's side secured an emphatic 8–0 victory in the first match of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Women's Europa Cup. Ella Touon was Ajax's hattrick hero. Katja Snoeijs scored twice. Sherida Spitse, Daniëlle Noordermeer and Jade van Hensbergen added the remaining goals. Ajax Women are now in a commanding position ahead of the return leg next week in Kazakhstan.
The Ajax Women have travelled to Kazakhstan ahead of their UEFA Women's Europa Cup qualifying round second-leg tie against WFC Aktobe. The match kicks off at 16:00 CET on Wednesday afternoon. The first leg at De Toekomst ended in an emphatic 8-0 victory for Ajax.
Ajax Women secured a convincing victory at sportscomplex De Toekomst. ADO Den Haag were beaten 7-1. Sari Kees and Sophie te Brake both scored their first goals for Ajax. The latter completed her afternoon with a hat-trick. The other goals for the Amsterdam side came from Amber Visscher, Katja Snoeijs and Daniëlle Noordermeer.