31 MAR 2019; Ajax - PSV; Match Day 28

[Orange14]

Must win game and nothing more need be said.

[SPL]

Well D Day has arrived, all fit Tadic striker ,Dolberg sub

[rjf1]

Must win -- but have to say I'm skeptical about our ability to win -- time will tell.

[rjf1]

The kind of lucky break that rarely happens in our favor puts us up 1-0. Is there hope afterall?

[SPL]

OG bit of luck for us

[rjf1]

Toward the end of the half we started slowing down from the earlier pace that had us overpowering PSV -- which allowed PSV to have more of the game. We are not going to win this game if we don't bring back the intensity for the whole second half.

[Orange14]

Decent enough half but de Jong almost had a disastrous turnover near the end; he was otherwise outstanding. Stay on the front foot against PSV as you know something will always happen in the last 10 minutes when they play.

[SPL]

Decent so far but I will be nervous if there is only 1 goal in it come 85th minute as PSV always score in the last 10 mins

[rjf1]

I'll be surprised if Maz doesn't get a red card from this.

[rjf1]

Another season -- same old crap.

[rjf1]

Wow! Tadic puts away the penalty, so hope returns. Now to hang on for 20 mins.

[rjf1]

Who woulda thunk it! I honestly wrote them off for the game and the season -- but they came through and proved me wrong.

[SPL]

Alas I couldn't get a proper link in the 2nd half ,tried 3 or 4 different streams but all just kept freezing up . I am happy we have won but fed up not seeing much of the 2nd half,sorry to moan but I am getting fed up trying to get steams these last 3 or 4 league games!

[Orange14]

VVVVVVVV------AAAAAAA--------RRRRRRR

Can't live with it and can't live without it. Two crucial decisions made by Kuipers who didn't see things in real time. Have to say that the Red Card for Mazraoui was deserved. David Neres has to be MOTM with his wonderful dribbling causing no end of difficulties for the right side of the PSV defense. Two point shy of first place now with the pressure on PSV not to drop points. ten Hag pulled all the right strings with the substitutions putting all the defenders he had on the bench into the match to stop PSV and that's just what they did.

Player Ratings:

Onana (7.5) - somewhat at fault along with de Ligt on the goal but otherwise a very good game
Tagliafico (5) - really poor defending in the first half but redeemed himself in the second
Blind (7) - tough on the back line and the MF when extra defenders were brought in
de Ligt (6.5) - didn't pay attention to Luuk de Jong on the goal
Mazraoui (3.5) - good match until the Nigel de Jong karate kick got him sent off
de Jong (7.5) - one bad pass at the end of the first half but wonderful otherwise
Schöne (6) - had to come off when Mazraoui got sent off but was OK
van de Beek (7) - strong game all over the field
Neres (8) - constant trouble for PSV all game long
Tadic (7.5) - cool dispatch of the PK to win the match for Ajax
Ziyech (6.5) - some poor shot selection but effective pressuring PSV
Veltman (6.5) - critical defensive play when I thought he was beaten
Kristensen (6) - solid
Magallan (5.5) - one poor pass which can't be done when you are a man down

Mid-week match against relegation candidate FC Emmen coming up while PSV take on PEC Zwolle

[SPL]

I did see the goals and incidents bit of luck with an OG and a penalty.Without VAR it would not have been given.

Mazraoui deserved red card . Glad we held on in extra time as we then had 6 defenders on the field.

All to play for but we have to start using more players than todays starting 11. Without the CL v Juve I would say we would be champs but those 2 extra tough games in between 6 league games means 8 in 25 days.

[Amol]

Saw the entire game, but was afraid to leave my couch to comment over here .

The red for Nous and the immediate goal for PSV put the fear of God in me. We stuck in there and Ten Haag put all his defenders in - which I thought was one too many. We had half decent balance with 5 defenders (Rasmus, Veltman, De Ligt, Blind and Nico). That blocked the runs of their wingers and we had De Ligt in the middle to vacuum away headers.

Magallan made one bad mistake and we somehow managed to not get scored on the counter.

Frenkie does 1 bone headed move/pass every game at least. Has been doing so since the beginning of the season. Glad we didn't scored on there as well.

VAR came to our rescue on the Neres tackle. Also another good thing is Viergever seems to have picked up an injury - not sure how bad it was. If he misses a game or two, that would put the cat amongst the pigeons over there. Shwaab is really not that good.

[Tom_]

Just out of interest, does anyone know what happens to the yellow card Tadic got after Schwab fouled Neres, but before the play was stopped for the VAR review? Does he still get the yellow, or is all the play between the missed call and the review "cancelled"? What if PSV had scored there?

[Jinne]

I see that the yellow card stayed as is. If PSV had scored the goal would have been cancelled. A similar case happened a few weeks back when Vitesse played Heerenveen. Vitesse scored the 3-1, but then there was a review of a penalty box case which resulted in penalty for Heerenveen. So instead of 3-1 it became 2-2 then.

[Tom_]

That’s right, I remember it now. So I wonder what would’ve happened if that had been Tadic’s 2nd yellow.

Feel like there are a lot of bugs to work out with VAR. Not sure it’s worth it.

[rjf1]

... Feel like there are a lot of bugs to work out with VAR. Not sure it’s worth it.

My opinion is that if there are bugs to work out, then work out the bugs. It's still better than games being won or lost because of missed or mistaken calls by the officials.

[Orange14]

Mazraoui's Red Card is a blessing in disguise as it will give Veltman and Kristensen valuable playing time as one of them will need to start in the first leg of the CL against Juventus.

[Tom_]

My opinion is that if there are bugs to work out, then work out the bugs. It's still better than games being won or lost because of missed or mistaken calls by the officials.

I think I enjoy the entertainment value of random terrible decisions changing the game more than the frustration of waiting for VAR!

[Orange14]

I think VAR is good for the game. Most of the time decisions are made pretty quickly if the VAR official has isolated the relevant replay for the match official. Ajax have certainly been the beneficiary of VAR this season.