A double by Noni Madueke in the first half and two goals by Yorbe Vertessen and Mario Götze in the second gave PSV Eindhoven the Netherlands Super Cup (0-4) and knocked Ajax down, who played the entire second half with a man less for the expulsion of the Argentine Nicolás Tagliafico.
With the permission of the 2019/20 season, suspended by the pandemic, Ajax had won the last five competitions played in the Netherlands: two Leagues, two Cups and one Super Cup. Tonight’s defeat marks the end of a hegemony in Dutch football that seemed consolidated.
The Amsterdam team paid dearly for having started the preseason at half throttle, as most of their internationals have recently joined the squad, compared to PSV that has been playing previous rounds of the Champions League since the second half of July.
The Eindhoven side dominated the majority of the match, striking first in the second minute on a spectacular strike from Madueke, a 19-year-old promise from the UK who has spent three years training at PSV. The attacker received the ball near the midfield line and left two Ajax defenders behind with a spectacular gallop down the right wing. As he entered the area, without thinking twice, he shot with his left foot at the short post and beat goalkeeper Remko Pasveer underneath.
Ajax responded by attacking as if the match was about to end. A header from the recently signed Steven Berghuis touched the wood after goalkeeper Joël Drommel brushed against it. Shortly afterwards, the VAR just annulled a goal by Sébastien Haller for offside and a header from Davy Klaassen went too high.
When the rojiblancos draw seemed close, the man of the night appeared again. Madueke went back into the rival area at full speed after a spectacular control by Mario Götze and made the second go up to the scoreboard with a shot similar to the first, but this time with his right leg.
The icing on the cake for PSV’s first half was the expulsion of Nicolás Tagliafico. The Argentine international made an untimely tackle on André Ramalho during a throw on the right wing and was deemed serious enough by referee Björn Kuipers to show him the red card.
With two goals against and one man less, Ajax launched into an almost impossible mission in the second half. Mazraoui tried his luck from afar and Gravenberch had a good chance with a free kick. Those from Amsterdam attacked more and more desperately and left gaps behind, something that PSV knew how to take advantage of.
The third and fourth of the Eindhoven set fell like ripe fruit. The Belgian Vertessen culminated in 76 a beautiful team play after a loss of the ball by Argentine Lisandro Martínez. At the edge of the end of the game, and with Ajax on their knees, Götze beat Pasveer over the top.
– Data sheet:
0. Ajax: Pasveer; Mazraoui, Timber, Martínez (m.86: Magallán), Tagliafico; Gravenberch, Blind (m.74; Ekkelenkamp), Klaassen (m.46: Rensch); Berghuis (m.74: Danilo), Haller (m.61: Neres), Tadic.
4. PSV Eindhoven: Drommel; Mwene (m.46: Teze), Ramalho, Boscagli, Max (m.81: Oppegard); Sangaré (m.61: Pröpper), Götze, Van Ginkel; Madueke (73: Bishop), Zahavi (m.46: Vertessen), Gakpo.
Goals: 0-1, m.2: Madueke. 0-2, m.29: Madueke. 0-3, m.76: Vertessen. 0-4, m.89: Götze.
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED) showed a yellow card to Klaassen from Ajax and Zahavi and Teze from PSV Eindhoven. Likewise, he showed the direct red to Tagliafico.
Incidents: Final of the Netherlands Super Cup played at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, before some 25,000 Ajax fans and 1,600 PSV Eindhoven supporters, which was half the capacity in compliance with the restrictions of the covid- 19. EFE. (HN)