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Five-star Ajax brush Willem II aside to keep up with league leaders

Ajax's Julian Brandt celebrates scoring against Willem II
Ajax's Julian Brandt celebrates scoring against Willem IIPhoto by OLAF KRAAK / ANP / AFP

Eredivisie giants Ajax scored five goals for the second game in a row as promoted Willem II were beaten 5-1 in the Johan Cruyff ArenA on Tuesday evening.

After beating Fortuna Sittard 5-1 on Saturday, Ajax manager Michel Sanchez rotated heavily for the rescheduled match against Willem II: Maarten Paes, Jorthy Mokio, Kasper Dolberg, Owen Wijndal, Lucas Rosa, and Oscar Gloukh all started, while Marc ter Stegen and Tolu were not fit to start.

Ajax opened on the front foot, dominating possession on Willem II's half and creating chance after chance - Oscar Gloukh, Jorthy Mokio, and Kasper Dolberg all took Maxim Delanghe under fire early, with the latter coming closest with a header that whistled past the post.

Paes was forced into action with Devin Haen getting a ball on target after Tonny Vilhena couldn't get his attempt quite right, soon after which Delanghe plucked a ball from Oscar Gloukh out of his bottom corner.

Davy Klaassen got Ajax off the mark right before half-time - Julian Brandt's cross was put in the danger zone by Youri Baas, after which Klaassen fired it in on a chested lay-off from Kasper Dolberg.

Julian Brandt doubled the lead before the break, passing his direct opponent and lacing it diagonally into the top corner.

The hosts kept the pressure up after the break, but had a quick scare when Haen tested Paes once more, but the Indonesian stopper kept Willem II scoreless.

After Gloukh and Sofyat Amrabat fired more shots at Delanghe, the former got his assist when Viktor Tsygankov tucked the ball into the far corner and scored his first Ajax goal.

Gloukh largely ran the show in Amsterdam and got his goal at long last - Willem II easily lost possession on their own half, after which Dolberg set Gloukh up with a smart flick and the latter stuck the ball underneath Delanghe to make it 4-0.

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The four-goal lead lasted less than two minutes after Alessandro Ciranni capped off a brilliant team attack in front of open goal, but it was restored with three minutes to go when Kasper Dolberg headed in a rebound to score for the second game in a row for the first time since August 2025.

Ajax got close to scoring their sixth of the evening via Gloukh and Abdellah Ouazane, but both were denied by Delanghe, who racked up 8 total saves against Ajax.

The hosts booked a comfortable win at home, beating Willem II 5-1 to stay within three points of leaders PSV. Ajax host Excelsior in their last game before the XL international break, with that game scheduled for Saturday, September 19th.

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