Two goals from Sébastien Haller turned Rachid Ghezzal’s opening goal for the Dutch side to claim their fifth straight Champions League win.
Two goals from Sébastien Haller in the second half, with assists from the Argentines Nicolás Tagliafico and Lisandro Martínez, gave Ajax victory this Wednesday and the definitive leadership of group C of the Champions League against a Besiktas (1-2) who, with zero points, will not even be able to fight on the last day for a place in the Europa League.
With five wins out of five, Ajax will reach the round of 16 with an enviable calling card. He has three goals against and sixteen in favor, nine of them from Haller, who equals Robert Lewandowski as the top scorer in the Champions League.
The Amsterdam team started the Istanbul match coldly and left the initiative to the Besiktas, who took the lead in the 22nd minute with a penalty goal from Rachid Ghezzal.
A clear hand from Ajax side Noussair Mazraoui in the area after a corner kick caused a penalty that needed the VAR to be confirmed. Rachid Ghezzal executed the maximum penalty, bursting the ball up the right, rendering Onana’s good stretch useless.
In the second half, Erik ten Hag’s men started the steamroller and They traced the result thanks to two goals from Haller, who came into the break.
The Frenchman entered through Daramy and from then on the team began to maintain the position of the ball more, was more precise in the last meters and managed to annul Besiktas.
There appeared the Argentine duo of Ajax, the full back Nicolás Tagliafico and the defender Lisandro Martínez. Precisely the latter made a deep pass towards Tagliafico, which broke the defensive line of the Turkish team. The goalkeeper went for the former Independiente and he gave it to Haller who, totally alone, pushed the ball to the back of the goal.
Ajax didn’t actually even need to hit the accelerator one hundred percent to turn the score around and the second came thanks to a free kick. Tadic placed it in the area, Martínez finished off and Haller, with the hunter’s suit in the small area, put his leg to correct the trajectory and score his ninth goal in the Champions League. The Besiktas defense simply stared.
The Turkish side did not even attempt to draw, assuming their European career has come to an end this season. Ajax, meanwhile, are heading at full speed to the round of 16 and will reach the last day of the group stage without having to play anything. (D)
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