Ajax fall to Utrecht in 96th minute to lose sight of Champions League

[p]Only a win mattered for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] on Sunday, with the Amsterdam giants trailing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nijmegen/nRluRF0T/"]NEC[/a] in a heated three-way battle for third place in the Eredivisie. The hosts started with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gloch-oscar/fL2jPPPb/"]Oscar Gloukh[/a] in the starting XI, as well as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dolberg-kasper/C8C5vSB8/"]Kasper Dolberg[/a], who kept [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/weghorst-wout/tpWMDFoL/"]Wout Weghorst[/a] on the bench.[/p][p]After [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/regeer-youri/fB0UN6SA/"]Youri Regeer[/a] missed an early chance, the opening 20 minutes saw little sensation until Ajax finally created a clear-cut chance, but Kasper Dolberg missed a low cross from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gaaei-anton/Cb4do3Z5/"]Anton Gaaei[/a] by a toe's length, still leaving him goalless since January.[/p][p]Oscar Gloukh was the next to have a shot at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barkas-vasilios/GlJbQAOg/"]Vasilis Barkas[/a]' goal, but was kept from scoring by the Greek stopper inside the box.[/p][embed guid="93156cef-38f3-4574-94b5-bcc4874f1c70" url="https://x.com/fcutrecht/status/2053516696401465735?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]It was all Ajax in the final 20 minutes of the half, though the hosts had no goals to show for it - [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/godts-mika/CIrbY1Ml/"]Mika Godts[/a] hit the post with a placed shot, after which Youri Regeer hoofed the ball high over an empty goal in the rebound.[/p][p]Ajax's fitness issues seemed to haunt them again, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/utrecht/p6QXMgOj/"]FC Utrecht[/a] picking up the pace after an hour and Ajax struggling to keep up with the visitors, having virtually fallen to fifth place in the meantime.[/p][h2]Late drama for tired Ajax[/h2][p]Time started to run out for Ajax, who, following the examples set all season, struggled mightily in the second half and failed to create a single chance beyond half-time.[/p][p][b]The second-half collapse put Ajax in a world of pain with ten minutes to go, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zechiel-gjivai/6BQvLBnt/"]Gjivai Zechiël[/a] free to cross the ball across Ajax's goal and find [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vesterlund-niklas/d0zffwaj/"]Niklas Vesterlund[/a], who scored a crucial goal in Utrecht's play-off fight and Ajax's Champions League battle.[/b][/p][p][b]It was the substitutes who made Ajax's equaliser happen - [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bounida-rayane/6BOZzCIl/"]Rayane Bounida[/a]'s outswinging corner found Wout Weghorst, who found the top corner and blew life into the Johan Cruyff ArenA.[/b][/p][embed guid="6230ad82-ae9e-44e1-bae4-05ed0c0536a9" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2053517629847929011?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]Mika Godts and Rayane Bounida tried it late for Ajax, but it was former Ajax defender [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-der-hoorn-mike/02NrrSBg/"]Mike van der Hoorn[/a] who dumped the stadium in sadness with a golden header ten seconds ahead of the full-time whistle.[/b][/p][p]FC Utrecht miraculously beat Ajax 2-1 in the 96th minute, thus securing a spot in the play-offs for UEFA Conference League football. Meanwhile, Ajax drop to fifth and trail FC Twente by three points, meaning a win next week at Heerenveen might not be enough for Ajax to return to the UEFA Champions League.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ajax-8UOvIwnb/utrecht-p6QXMgOj/?mid=tnYgV8s0"]Check out the full match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="7d9b0773-5bfd-4a20-b84c-d50e1f6fbcc1" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f3f3dd9e-da8b-4e05-8383-9bd9167eb262" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /]