Ajax dominate but fail to put tie to bed against poor Shelbourne

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] manager Michel Sanchez opted to keep his summer signing on the bench, giving [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dolberg-kasper/C8C5vSB8/"]Kasper Dolberg[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wijndal-owen/W6Ifgtxs/"]Owen Wijndal[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/klaassen-davy/GpcTW1L2/"]Davy Klaassen[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/paes-maarten/QZUlDAhp/"]Maarten Paes[/a] the nod over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marcos-leonardo/OW4BpjD0/"]Marcos Leonardo[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arokodare-toluwalase/4IsrUYg1/"]Tolu Arokodare[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/caio-henrique/dr5D8pxI/"]Caio Henrique[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brandt-julian/hW5Goyrc/"]Julian Brandt[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ter-stegen-marc-andre/byxc46yl/"]Marc ter Stegen[/a].[/p][p][b]Ajax thought they had shot out of the gates when an apparent foul on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/godts-mika/CIrbY1Ml/"]Mika Godts[/a] earned the hosts a penalty inside five minutes. The Belgian winger, who's wanted by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psg/CjhkPw0k/"]PSG[/a], stepped up himself and sent goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/beech-eddie/phAsR5G2/"]Eddie Beach[/a] the wrong way to give Ajax an early lead.[/b][/p][p][b]After several long periods of possession for Ajax, left-back Owen Wijndal was the beneficiary of a sailing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/berghuis-steven/8vVtUw90/"]Steven Berghuis[/a] cross and thumped it into the roof of Beach's net to double the lead halfway through the first half.[/b][/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="5aaa84cd-c28a-46a8-ad58-f227f450ba72" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="5340d37c-ff16-4834-9d33-98de6c9579a9" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gloch-oscar/fL2jPPPb/"]Oscar Gloukh[/a], who scored a hat-trick against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/vojvodina/8pVJab5C/"]Vojvodina[/a], had the 3-0 on his boot, but had his shot deflected and saw Beach keep [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/shelbourne/OjQROO8j/"]Shelbourne[/a] alive. The Welshman stepped up again soon after, keeping Kasper Dolberg from scoring his first of the season.[/p][p]Ajax dominated, but failed to find the net again before the half despite chances for Kasper Dolberg and Owen Wijndal.[/p][p][b]Dolberg finally found his goal shortly after half-time, tapping in a curling cross from Berghuis to give Ajax a three-goal lead with 40 minutes to go.[/b][/p][p]Mika Godts nearly scored his second from the penalty spot soon after, but Eddie Beach kept the Belgian from giving Ajax a 4-0 lead. Beach did the same a few minutes later, keeping Berghuis from converting a massive chance from up close.[/p][embed guid="a8e548e0-c7e4-462e-a175-0085aaa70141" url="https://x.com/AFCAjax/status/2085448739582251148?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Substitute Marcos Leonardo, who joined from Al Hilal for just under €20 million, squandered three chances, one of which was created by debutant Julian Brandt. The Brazilian was put in a prime position each time, but couldn't get the ball on target.[/p][p][b]With Ajax failing to fully put the game to bed, Shelbourne took a rare chance to find space behind the Ajax defence and pounced on it, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kelly-daniel/b9Ij8ij5/"]Daniel Kelly[/a] scoring a late and unexpected goal in Amsterdam.[/b][/p][p]Ajax controlled possession the rest of the way and created a handful of minor chances, including one for Marcos Leonardo, who combined with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/edvardsen-oliver/bsQiuIvb/"]Oliver Edvardsen[/a] but was overtaken by three Irish defenders after the Norwegian winger couldn't put the Brazilian in a good position.[/p][p]Ajax dominated the game, but failed to expand the lead and will take a two-goal lead to Dublin. Shelbourne will host Ajax on Thursday, August 13th, at Tolka Park.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ajax-8UOvIwnb/shelbourne-OjQROO8j/?mid=Ktfn6bin"]View all the match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="d13ca2ee-703a-4314-9fad-c633ed41e746" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="09a9225a-cefe-4265-8121-2929ae8b6026" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /]