Brighton win at Ajax to increase qualification chances

Brighton became the first side to win their first two meetings with Ajax in a major European competition since 1999, and the first English side to do so since Tottenham in 1981 after their 0-2 win at Cryuff Arena in Amsterdam on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side won the first leg 2-1 at Amex stadium a fortnight ago, and they were able to go one better last night by keeping a clean sheet and also extending their impressive form of finding the back of the net as they have now scored in 24 of their last 25 games in all competitions.

The last time the Seagulls failed to score was in the 1-0 League Cup defeat to Chelsea in September, and on-loan forward Ansu Fati opened the scoring in the 14th minute to ensure that that doesn’t happen again.

However, it was a night that saw Ajax fail to score in consecutive major European games for the first time since December 2020, which coincidentally included a game against Liverpool in the Champions League.

Ansu Fati’s opening goal was assisted by Simon Andigra, who is only second to Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz in terms of Europa League assists since the start of last season, as the German has six assists, one ahead of Simon Adingra’s five. 

The scorer turned provider and the provider scorer when Andigra turned in Fati’s assist in the 54th minute to put the Seagulls second on the table with seven points in four games and one point behind Marseille.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side will host Sheffield United in the Premier League at the weekend before the international break.

On Thursday, there were several English teams playing in European football leagues. In the Europa League, West Ham beat Olympiakos 1-0, while Brighton secured a 2-0 victory over Ajax. Toulouse managed to defeat Liverpool 3-2 in the same tournament. Meanwhile, in the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa emerged victorious with a 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu