Ajax Demolish Telstar 4-0: Klaassen, Berghuis and Leonardo Do the Damage in Eredivisie Rout
SportSignals Match Desk · Football analysis desk ·
Final score: Telstar 0, Ajax 4. Write it down. Then ask yourself what Telstar's defenders were doing for ninety minutes, because from where I'm sitting, the answer is not much.
The Basics Were Not There
Ajax won this match because they did the basics better. They competed harder. They executed. Telstar had their moments, but when it mattered, when the ball was in dangerous areas, the home side did not have the desire to make it count. That is not a tactical problem. That is an attitude problem. End of.
The scoreline tells you everything. Ajax had 58 per cent possession and completed 477 passes at an 89 per cent accuracy rate. Telstar completed 328 passes at 83 per cent. Ajax generated 56 dangerous attacks to Telstar's 28. When one team is twice as threatening in the areas that decide games, the result is not a surprise. It is accountability in action.
Klaassen Opens the Door
The first goal arrived in the 37th minute and it was Davy Klaassen who got it, finishing with his right foot from a move that involved Steven Berghuis. Klaassen has been around long enough to know what is required in situations like this. He found space, he committed to the finish, and he scored. Simple. The kind of goal that wins you matches because your team believe in you and you do not let them down.
Before the break, Julian Brandt had a moment ruled out for offside following a VAR check in the 44th minute. So Ajax were in control at half-time and had a disallowed goal to show there was more coming. Telstar had not done enough to suggest they could turn it around after the interval.
Ajax Kill the Match in Eleven Minutes
The second half was where this match was settled, and it was settled quickly. Steven Berghuis scored in the 56th minute, assisted by Oscar Gloukh. Four minutes later, Tolu Arokodare made it three, converting another chance created by Berghuis. Two goals in four minutes. That is a team that knows how to win. That is standards being maintained.
The thing is, at 3-0 after sixty minutes, Telstar had no way back. Ajax had nine shots on target across the ninety minutes compared to Telstar's four. The home side had ten shots total. Ajax had twelve. But it is not just the volume that matters. It is the conviction. Ajax put away their chances. Telstar did not. That is the difference between the two sides, and it is not a small one.
Berghuis was central to everything going forward for Ajax. He scored one, assisted another, and was involved in the build-up throughout. His name appears repeatedly in the goals data because he kept putting himself in the right positions and kept delivering. That is what accountability looks like from a senior player. You perform when it counts.
Substitutions Change Nothing for Telstar
Both managers made five substitutions each. Ajax brought on Marcos Leonardo in the 73rd minute to replace Berghuis, and Leonardo repaid that decision immediately. His left-foot finish in the 78th minute made it four. A substitute coming on and scoring within five minutes tells you something about the squad depth Ajax carry into these matches and the standards they demand even from players who start on the bench.
Telstar made three substitutions in the 65th minute, including Prince Aning and Fabiano Rust coming on. It did not change the shape of the match. By that point the contest was finished. Gabi Caschili came on in the 74th minute to replace Gerald Alders, who had picked up an injury during the match. Telstar's injury list heading into this fixture was already a concern, with four players carrying issues for the home side, including one long-term absence with no expected return date.
Telstar's Defensive Record Tells the Story
Look at Telstar's recent Eredivisie results across their last ten completed matches in this competition and you see a side that concedes regularly. They kept just one clean sheet in those ten matches. They shipped goals against Sparta Rotterdam, Utrecht, SC Heerenveen, and FC Groningen in that same stretch. The defensive problems are not new. They have been there. And against a team of Ajax's quality, those problems become four goals against.
Telstar's most recent Eredivisie result before this match was a 1-3 home loss to Sparta Rotterdam. So this was a second home defeat in two recent Eredivisie outings at this ground. That is unacceptable for any club that takes its standards seriously. You cannot keep conceding at home and expect different results.
The Signal That Got It Wrong
Listen, I will be straight with you. The pre-match signal on this fixture was Under 2.5 goals. The reasoning, as I understand it, was that the model gave it a 41 per cent chance. The market had it lower. There was an edge on paper. Fine. But I looked at this match and thought four goals was a real possibility. Telstar do not keep clean sheets. Ajax have players who can punish you. The Under 2.5 lost. I am not surprised. I blame the players for making it a four-goal game, and by that I mean the Telstar players, because they did not compete well enough to keep Ajax to a manageable scoreline. Logic was not the problem. Execution on the pitch was.
What Ajax Showed
Ajax were controlled. They did not panic when Telstar had moments. Their pass completion, their dangerous attack numbers, their ability to score twice in four second-half minutes and then add a fourth through a substitute, all of it speaks to a team with desire and quality throughout the squad. Their clean sheet was deserved. They had 13 tackles and 8 interceptions to Telstar's 10 and 4 respectively. They worked for that shut-out.
This was a complete away performance. Four goals, a clean sheet, and a ruthless clinical edge in front of goal. Ajax did not overcomplicate anything. They competed, they executed the basics, and they left Velsen with three points and no argument from anyone.