AMSTERDAM. Ajax liquidates Sparta Rotterdam 4-0 with goals of Dusan Tadić (6′), Kenneth Taylor (28′), Dusan Tadić (64′ pen) and Mohammed Kudus  (84′). Ajax was definitely better in terms of ball possession (75%) and that was among the factors of its victory.​

The match was played at the Johan Cruijff Arena stadium in Amsterdam on Sunday and it started at 4:45 pm local time. The referee was Pol van Boekel with the collaboration of Freek Vandeursen and Stefan de Groot. The 4th official was Clay Ruperti. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was quite cold at 6.8 degrees Celsius or 44.22 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 88%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

Ajax had a strong ball possession 75% while Sparta Rotterdam was struggling with a 25% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

Ajax was more pushing with 86 dangerous attacks and 23 shots of which 12 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Ajax won the match​.

Ajax shot 23 times, 12 on target, 6 off target. On the opposite side, Sparta Rotterdam shot 7 times, 2 on target, 3 off target.

Cards

Ajax didn’t receive any yellow card. On the opposite side, Sparta Rotterdam received 2 yellow cards (R. Rosario and Aaron Meijers).

Standings

After this match, Ajax will have 46 points to remain in the 2nd place. Regarding the opposition, Sparta Rotterdam will stay with 37 points to hold in the 6th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Eredivisie, Ajax will host Feyenoord on the 19th of March with a 27-5 head to head in favor of Ajax (9 draws).

Sparta Rotterdam will play away agasint FC Twente on the 22nd of April with a 14-7 head to head record in favor of FC Twente (4 draws).

Ajax – Formation

Ajax started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).

The manager Johnny Heitinga decided to play with the following team: Gerónimo Rulli (6.8), Devyne Rensch (7.3), Jurriën Timber (6.8), Edson Álvarez (7.0), Owen Wijndal (7.3), Steven Berghuis (7.4), Kenneth Taylor (7.8), Davy Klaassen (7.1), Mohammed Kudus (7.2), Dušan Tadić (9.1) and Steven Bergwijn (7.8).

The home team had on the bench: Calvin Bassey (7.3), Brian Brobbey (6.4), Lorenzo Lucca, Remko Pasveer, Youri Regeer, Francisco Conceição, Jorrel Hato, Florian Grillitsch, Kian Fitz-Jim and Maarten Stekelenburg.

Ajax could not rely on the presence of Calvin Bassey (injured).

Substitutions

Ajax made 5 changes: Edson Álvarez for Calvin Bassey (70′), Steven Bergwijn  for Brian Brobbey (70′), Owen Wijndal for Jorrel Hato (78′), Steven Berghuis  for Francisco Conceição (78′) and Kenneth Taylor for Florian Grillitsch (86′).

Best player: Dušan Tadić​

The player that probably impressed the most for Ajax was Dušan Tadić.

His rating is (9.1) with 2 goals, 50 passes (90% accurate) and 7 key passes. He was won 2 duels out of 4. He performed 4 crosses.

Sparta Rotterdam – Formation

Sparta Rotterdam started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

Maurice Steijn played with: Nick Olij (7.6), Shurandy Sambo (5.2), Dirk Abels (6.2), Adil Auassar (6.5), Mica Pinto (6.1), Jonathan de Guzmán (6.5), Joshua Kitolano (6.4), Vito van Crooij (6.8), Arno Verschueren (6.4), Koki Saito (6.1) and Tobias Lauritsen (7.3).

The following players were sitting on the bench: Delano van Crooy, Rick Meissen, Mohammed Tahiri, Bart Vriends, Youri Schoonderwaldt, Rayvien Rosario, Elias Hoff Melkersen, Pedro Alemañ Serna, Aaron Meijers (6.3), Jeremy Van Mullem (6.2), Patrick Brouwer and Mike Eerdhuijzen.

Substitutions

Sparta Rotterdam made 5 changes: Mica Pinto  for Aaron Meijers (72′), Vito van Crooij for Jeremy van Mullem (72′), Shurandy Sambo for Bart Vriends (86′), Arno Verschueren for Pedro Serra (87′) and K. Saito for Rayvien Rosario (90′).

Best player: Nick Olij​

As per our analysis, the most impressive player for Sparta Rotterdam was the goalkeeper: Nick Olij. His rating is 7.64. He performed 8 saves.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Eredivisie.​

• SC Cambuur – SC Heerenveen – 1-2
• Go Ahead Eagles – FC Twente – 2-0
• FC Utrecht – PSV – 2-2
• Excelsior – NEC – 0-3
• Ajax – Sparta Rotterdam – 4-0