02 FEB 2019; Ajax - VVV; Match Day 20

[Orange14]

After the debacle in Rotterdam, out intrepid Ajax squad comes home to take on surprising VVV who sit in 7th place. Will this Ajax team prove to be as fragile as a Ming Vase? I have not seen any update on the health status of Tagliafico.

[Orange14]

Tagliafico is fit for tomorrow's match. Mazraoui has a sore hamstring and Magallan an upper leg injury; both will miss the match.

[SPL]

Kristensen for Mazraoui and Tagliafico back for Magallan. Veltman back on the bench but the only 2 effective subs are Neres and KJH.Varela sub but no idea how good he is.

[SPL]

Surely we can win this one!

[SPL]

Wow what a beauty by Ziyech 1-0

[SPL]

HT 1-0 so far so good , a 2nd just after HT would be great of course.Great to see we have a real left back again

[Orange14]

Tagliafico is a big difference maker. Too bad he was out last weekend. Had some good movement and Dolberg has been very active up front. Let's put this one to bed with a couple of more goals.

[SPL]

Wow we are back 6-0, very committed performance attacking all the time few if any defensive errors . This was the Ajax of before the winter break.Tagliafico had an ice pack on his knee hope he is ok as his return today was very important.

Lovely goal by Dolberg which will have done his confidence good .

[Orange14]

Nothing better than home cooking. After two lackluster league matches, Ajax came out tonight with grit and determination. 70% possession, lots of shots and good ones too led to a 6-0 thrashing of the visitors from Venlo. Onana had next to nothing to do in goal and the defense except for one of two early occasions was never troubled.

Player Ratings:

Onana (5.5) - one shot on goal and one save; a couple of back passes that had to be dealt with and that was it
Tagliafico (7) - really solid on both sides of the pitch until coming off mid way in the second half
Blind (6.5) - played pretty advanced in the 2nd half while his partner checked for any balls over the top
de Ligt (6) - really had nothing to do in the 2nd half as the game was almost exclusively in the Venlo half
Kristensen (7) - really solid game offensively and he didn't have to defend much at all
Schöne (7) - didn't dwell on the ball too much and was quick in his passes
de Jong (7) - much better match today
van de Beek (7) - well deserved goal at the end and had some dangerous runs into the box
Tadic (7) - always dangerous today
Dolberg (7.5) - really good touches and a wonderful goal; I think he was MOTM in the Arena
Ziyech (7.5) - good passing and creator
Sinkgraven (6) - nice to see a game where he doesn't have to defend
Neres (6.5) - fine match on for Tadic, clever lay off to van de Beek at the end
Huntelaar (5.5) -easy tap in on the driving cross from Neres

On the road to Heracles next Saturday and then the awaited CL tie with Real Madrid

[Amol]

Missed the game as I was out teaching my son how to snowboard.

Glad that we won this one 6-0! Will watch the replay tomorrow.