Second-half turnaround leads Ajax to important first-leg win at FC Sion

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] were gunning to make the UEFA Conference League with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ter-stegen-marc-andre/byxc46yl/"]Marc ter Stegen[/a] in goal for his first European match with the Amsterdam outfit, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marcos-leonardo/OW4BpjD0/"]Marcos Leonardo[/a] filled the striker position and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gloch-oscar/fL2jPPPb/"]Oscar Gloukh[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brandt-julian/hW5Goyrc/"]Julian Brandt[/a] started together for the first time.[/p][p]After Leonardo squandered a promising opportunity in the opening phase, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sion/KbwIFIoN/"]Sion[/a] got the biggest chance of the first 15 minutes via [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boteli-winsley/4rr4MzGc/"]Winsley Boteli[/a], who hit the post [/p][p]After a period of slight pressure from Ajax, Sion surprisingly took the lead after 34 minutes, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/surdez-franck/Ms1t5MWn/"]Franck Surdez[/a] free to fire the ball into Ter Stegen's far corner after a cutback from Ali Kabalcaman.[/p][p]Ajax were lucky not to concede another goal before the break when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lavanchy-numa/SbA30WNq/"]Numa Lavanchy[/a]'s shot was touched and saved by Ter Stegen.[/p][p]Julian Brandt saved Ajax shortly after half-time, picking up a cleared cross and firing the ball into the top corner to find a much-needed equaliser and inject some life into [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sanchez-michel/CYSLRQ77/"]Michel Sanchez[/a]'s side.[/p][embed guid="44af01e8-1aa8-4a30-8c2e-68042deb7255" url="https://x.com/AFCAjax/status/2090527696769990833?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]As much as Ajax needed the equaliser, 20-million-euro striker Marcos Leonardo needed his first Ajax goal to get off the mark. Within the hour, the Brazilian got exactly what he needed, heading in a lofted ball from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gaaei-anton/Cb4do3Z5/"]Anton Gaaei[/a] to give Ajax the lead in the Swiss Alps.[/p][p]Sion found themselves back in Ajax's box and got a penalty after Boteli went down as he felt the hand of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mokio-jorthy/lQdp4JnH/"]Jorthy Mokio[/a] on his shoulder. Following a quick VAR check, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chouaref-ylyas/bV1XwLf5/"]Ilyas Chouaref[/a] stayed ice cold and converted from the spot with 15 minutes remaining.[/p][p]It was an up-and-down second half in Sion, which took another turn when Nigerian striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arokodare-toluwalase/4IsrUYg1/"]Tolu Arokodare[/a] scored one minute after coming on for Leonardo, heading the ball diagonally past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/racioppi-anthony/2mbJTpvg/"]Anthony Racioppi[/a].[/p][image alt="Tolu and Julian Brandt celebrate the Nigerian's goal against Sion" id="1094413a-f3a3-482f-8327-b7070d91c99b" credit-line="Pro Shots Photo Agency / Sipa USA / Profimedia" guid="74135f61-0895-4b72-9c01-3a97c8c713d0" original-width="1400" original-height="933" /][p]Ajax captain Davy Klaassen concluded the second-half turnaround with a lob, assisted by Tolu in the 86th minute.[/p][p]It was the final act of Ajax's comeback, which saw them score four goals in the second half to return to Amsterdam with a two-goal lead in hand. Ajax will host FC Sion in the Johan Cruyff ArenA on Thursday, August 27th.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ajax-8UOvIwnb/sion-KbwIFIoN/?mid=EVXIRMrf"]Check the full match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="9d701034-b7ef-4dae-bdc4-40cdac88e9a2" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="9eca9be7-c556-407c-a178-7678dc8e011d" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /]