Match Report: Benfica vs Ajax

Benfica 2-2 Ajax

23rd Februaury 2022      20:00 kick-off                       
Match report by William Okafor-Oregan


Stalemate: This was the first meeting between the two clubs since their draw in the 2018/19 UCL group-stage 

Ajax and Benfica had to settle for a draw in a hotly contested match where the current Champions League top scorer Sebastian Haller, ended up scoring in both nets.

Ajax's veteran winger Dusan Tadic finished off a string of neat passes by the away side, by stroking the ball past Odysseas Vlachodimos once through on goal.

Then surprisingly one of Europe's most in-form strikers, Sebastian Haller, found himself scoring in the wrong net when he accidentally guided the ball towards his own goal via Jan Vertonghen's cross.

Haller made amends only a handful of minutes later - he was the first to react to Vlachodimos' awkward save and clinically scored from the rebound.

Benfica eventually equalised again as Goncalo Ramos' thunderous strike was initially stopped by Remko Pasveer but Roman Yaremchuk reacted instantly and headed the loose ball into an empty net.

Ajax were fortunate to finish the game with all 11 men on the field, when Antony was only booked for his involvement in an off-ball altercation with Darwin Nunez in the final minutes.


(Lead Image Credit: William Okafor-Oregan)

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