The Italian was satisfied with his team's resilience. Ajax fell behind twice and seemed to be down to ten men after Anton Gaaei received a red card. A minute later, AZ also went down to ten men as Alexandre Penetra received his second yellow card after an earlier booking in the first half.
"I'm happy with how the players responded after those setbacks. We came back twice. In the final phase, we were still pushing for the win. We can't ask more from our boys. We've collected 31 points from the last eleven Eredivisie matches. We can be proud of that."
In the first part of the match, Ajax perhaps had the upper hand, but clear chances were scarce. After AZ’s opening goal, the game "exploded." "At the start, both teams were feeling each other out. Both sides were well organized. AZ sat deep and looked to counter. After their 0-1 goal, our players responded well. We gave it everything. That’s what I like about our boys. They are fighters."
After the red card (with the score at 1-1), Ajax had to come up with a new plan. "For a few minutes, Jordan Henderson played at right-back. We were preparing Rosa to come on. Quite soon after, AZ also received a red card."
"All in all, both teams put a lot of energy into the match. Maybe we had more shots on goal than AZ, but it is what it is. It’s a good point."
