Ajax

  

nwar El Ghazi - the Ajax winger who has it all

PROFILE: The 19-year-old wideman can also play through the middle and he stole the show for Ajax on Sunday as they beat league leaders PSV 3-1

 Philips Stadion

An incredible 14 points clear at the top of the Eredivisie and a seemingly unstoppable machine heading into their clash with a suffering, limp opponent, all the attention was on PSV when they faced reigning champions Ajax on Sunday.

Phillip Cocu's PSV have been dominant this term, led by Memphis Depay, Georginio Wijnaldum, Jetro Willems, Luuk de Jong and Andres Guardado. They were expected to stroll to an easy victory against Ajax, who have struggled to match the standards of the last few seasons.

While PSV controlled the match as expected, the champions elect were surprisingly overshadowed by a man-of-the-match performance from Anwar El Ghazi, 19.

The game was thrilling, with Depay, Wijnaldum, De Jong, Guardado and Adam Maher seeing a great deal of the ball and heaping relentless pressure on Ajax.

But while the hosts were wasteful, their opponents were effective and El Ghazi was crucial.

Spotting the threat posed by the winger, full-back Willems sat deeper than usual and got the upper hand in the early stages but, such is El Ghazi's blend of intelligence and skill, he soon started to get the better of the battle.

Staying wide and using his pace and strength, the Netherlands Under-21 international managed to overpower Willems. His cross was pacy, well placed and easily converted by Ricardo Kishna to put Ajax ahead against the run of play.

From then on it seemed that whenever Ajax wanted to create a chance, El Ghazi was the man to go through.

It has been an excellent debut season for El Ghazi in the Eredivisie. In his first three games he scored two and set up another. He was the first person to score against Barcelona at Camp Nou this season when he fired home in the Champions League.