A low-key opening in Amsterdam eventually saw the visitors emerge as the greater threat, with an incisive move down the right culminating in free-scoring Victor Osimhen heading wide from Baris Alper Yilmaz’s cross. The Nigerian striker was released in behind again at the half’s midway point only to fire wide, and Ajax ruthlessly punished that miss by breaking the deadlock from the subsequent goal-kick.
Brian Brobbey’s brilliant hold-up play took Davinson Sánchez out of the action, allowing Chuba Akpom to utilise the space to cut inside from the left and take aim at the bottom corner, where goalkeeper Fernando Muslera could only parry his strike into the path of Bertrand Traoré to tuck home the rebound.
Okan Buruk’s men emerged from the break determined to restore parity, and Gabriel Sara and Kaan Ayhan both came close as they tested Remko Pasveer from range.
However, just like in the first half, Galatasaray were caught cold just as they got on top, falling two behind as Ajax caught them on the counter. Berkan Kutlu made a mess of Anton Gaaei’s cross from the right, and Kian Fitz-Jim pounced with a clinical finish to beat Muslera.
Once more, the Turkish giants responded in kind, with substitute Michy Batshuayi spurning a huge chance to halve the deficit when he blazed a close-range rebound over the bar, shortly before Osimhen rounded Pasveer and fired into the side-netting from an acute angle.
Despite being the top scorers in the competition after seven matchdays, Galatasaray seemed devoid of ideas from there – hardly a good omen with the talismanic Osimhen’s first-half yellow card ruling him out of the first leg of their knockout play-off.
With the game seemingly up, Osimhen bundled home from close range after Ajax failed to clear a corner to net for the seventh time in as many matches.
There was not enough time for a comeback to materialise, however, as defeat extends Gala’s longest winless away run in the UEL to seven matches, and marks their first loss of any description since August.
Ajax, meanwhile, leapfrog their visitors to join them as a seeded side in the play-offs as they improve on an already-imperious H2H record against Turkish opposition (W12, D1, L1).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kian Fitz-Jim (Ajax)
