At home, PSV failed to defend the lead. The team fought back after falling behind, but in the end Ajax pulled the longest straw.
All or nothing
'Simply The Best' echoed through the stadium as of old at PSV's rise. Fireworks welcomed the team and from the first second there was fight in this all-or-nothing match. Both teams kept the spaces small and were fiercely looking for the first chance. From the transition, we saw the first PSV danger through Ritsu Doan. The Japanese accelerated and combined well with Mario Götze, but a shooting chance did not materialize. Joey Veerman was the first with a shot on goal. From distance he lashed out hard, but Pasveer caught the effort. After twenty minutes with chances back and forth, there was still no ball in the net.
Backline
At the other end, PSV was put to the test. From a free kick the ball was shot close to the bar. There was an opportunity to work the rebound into the goal, but that did not happen. PSV escaped with a scare, but later came the setback. An Ajax cross was headed behind Drommel. PSV had to come back from a deficit. Gakpo fought for the equalizer and managed to find freedom with a clever sprint. His effort produced a corner kick that Marco van Ginkel almost managed to reach with his head. Later, it was Olivier Boscagli that almost brought liberation. Obispo headed through from a corner kick, Boscagli shot at goal but Pasveer was in the way. Without an equalizer, PSV returned to the locker room.
Equalizer
The rebuttal had to come in the second half. Doan was able to take a shot on goal from close range. He poked the ball toward the net with his toes, but the position was too difficult to get to full effect. The expected equalizer finally fell and it was Mario Götze who accounted for it. Gakpo took advantage of a mistake by Ajax and snatched the ball. Veerman got it into his feet, played in Götze and he rounded off perfectly. The lead almost fell too after a good through pass to Doan, but he was stopped at the last moment. After an hour of playing time, a lot could still happen.
VAR
Phillipp Mwene came into the lines in the last half hour and immediately asserted himself. Ne a combination with Doan he put Götze in position to shoot, but the Amsterdam defense intervened. In the end, the joy was for the visitors. A curious goal fell after the ball had crossed the sideline. The VAR ruled against it, however, and Ajax was awarded the lead. In the closing stages of the game, PSV pulled out all the stops to get the equalizer on the scoreboard again, but it didn't happen. At home, PSV went down narrowly against Ajax.
