Five-star Ajax brush Willem II aside to keep up with league leaders

[p]After beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sittard/YH8HX5iP/"]Fortuna Sittard[/a] 5-1 on Saturday, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] manager Michel Sanchez rotated heavily for the rescheduled match against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/willem-ii/6u3qag0G/"]Willem II[/a]: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/paes-maarten/QZUlDAhp/"]Maarten Paes[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mokio-jorthy/lQdp4JnH/"]Jorthy Mokio[/a], [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/rosa-lucas/2g3Pa3qH/"]Lucas Rosa[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gloch-oscar/fL2jPPPb/"]Oscar Gloukh[/a] all started, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ter-stegen-marc-andre/byxc46yl/"]Marc ter Stegen[/a] and Tolu were not fit to start.[/p][p]Ajax opened on the front foot, dominating possession on Willem II's half and creating chance after chance - Oscar Gloukh, Jorthy Mokio, and Kasper Dolberg all took [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/delanghe-maxime/WlJxIKKs/"]Maxim Delanghe[/a] under fire early, with the latter coming closest with a header that whistled past the post.[/p][p]Paes was forced into action with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haen-devin/YDnIlJfn/"]Devin Haen[/a] getting a ball on target after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vilhena-tonny/tO1l92T6/"]Tonny Vilhena[/a] couldn't get his attempt quite right, soon after which Delanghe plucked a ball from Oscar Gloukh out of his bottom corner.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/klaassen-davy/GpcTW1L2/"]Davy Klaassen[/a] got Ajax off the mark right before half-time - [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brandt-julian/hW5Goyrc/"]Julian Brandt[/a]'s cross was put in the danger zone by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baas-youri/jyjasemf/"]Youri Baas[/a], after which Klaassen fired it in on a chested lay-off from Kasper Dolberg.[/b][/p][embed guid="962d2c0b-49a5-4f4c-a587-7fdfad55fc17" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2099934014295396590?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]Julian Brandt doubled the lead before the break, passing his direct opponent and lacing it diagonally into the top corner.[/b][/p][p]The hosts kept the pressure up after the break, but had a quick scare when Haen tested Paes once more, but the Indonesian stopper kept Willem II scoreless.[/p][p][b]After Gloukh and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/amrabat-sofyan/r5WUFzf3/"]Sofyat Amrabat[/a] fired more shots at Delanghe, the former got his assist when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tsygankov-viktor/8l99epoQ/"]Viktor Tsygankov[/a] tucked the ball into the far corner and scored his first Ajax goal.[/b][/p][p][b]Gloukh largely ran the show in Amsterdam and got his goal at long last - Willem II easily lost possession on their own half, after which Dolberg set Gloukh up with a smart flick and the latter stuck the ball underneath Delanghe to make it 4-0.[/b][/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="984e9125-110a-4ce5-a9f2-cbc8c4a419dd" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="58357f50-e433-4cfd-be02-98fb89795424" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]The four-goal lead lasted less than two minutes after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ciranni-alessandro/I32EWlxT/"]Alessandro Ciranni[/a] capped off a brilliant team attack in front of open goal, but it was restored with three minutes to go when Kasper Dolberg headed in a rebound to score for the second game in a row for the first time since August 2025.[/p][p]Ajax got close to scoring their sixth of the evening via Gloukh and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ouazane-abdellah/SGcSVy7E/"]Abdellah Ouazane[/a], but both were denied by Delanghe, who racked up 8 total saves against Ajax.[/p][p]The hosts booked a comfortable win at home, beating Willem II 5-1 to stay within three points of leaders [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psv/M9UEHJWi/"]PSV[/a]. Ajax host [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/excelsior/nNlLsRUr/"]Excelsior[/a] in their last game before the XL international break, with that game scheduled for Saturday, September 19th.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ajax-8UOvIwnb/willem-ii-6u3qag0G/?mid=l4bCcu0l"]View all the match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="2b48ed1d-bf99-40ba-a147-6f9883d459a5" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f6884a40-5d27-433d-9cea-2768829818ab" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /]