Jordan Henderson had given the Amsterdammers a half-time lead against Twente, but just before that Ivan Perisic put PSV 1-0 against Sparta, and the Eindhoven club’s one-point lead at the top of the Eredivisie still held. Gijvai Zechiel’s goal swung the title race back to the Dutch capital.
It did not last. Just six minutes later former Newcastle United flop Luuk de Jong equalised. Malik Tillman, once of Rangers, sealed PSV’s 3-1 win with six minutes to go. Despite Wout Weghorst’s late second for Ajax, the damage was. From being nine points ahead with five games remaining, Ajax threw it away.
'It's a big shift in a short space of time'
– Jordan Henderson –
Then came disaster. Ajax had produced a 19-minute video with captain Henderson before their clash with NEC Nijmegen on 11 May. It is the sort of thing Ajax do very well. Hiring out the exclusive Soho House members’ club and hotel and having Henderson talk eloquently about his career, his drive, hugging his father, who had cancer diagnosed, after the 2019 Champions League final. Even his angry reaction to journalists asking him about a reported January move to Monaco.
But PSV fought back. Perisic pulled one back five minutes into the second half and then Noa Lang, the former Ajax enfant terrible, scored twice as PSV completed a stunning comeback to keep their apparently slim title hopes alive. His raucous celebration while being pelted with abuse and more from the home fans is one of the images of the season.
In Amsterdam, Henderson more than played his part as a shellshocked Ajax lost 3-0 to NEC. The England midfielder played Basar Onal onside. The NEC sub’s shot was saved by fortysomething Ajax keeper Remko Pasveer, but Brayann Pereira stuck the rebound past Henderson with 25 minutes remaining.
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The collapse, completed after PSV’s win over Sparta on Sunday, was not all Henderson’s fault, but in a country where directness is a virtue there was one subject not broached in his video – Saudi Arabia. Enough has been said about Henderson’s move to Saudi, but it is something he should have addressed after moving to the city that is home of the first monument in the world to commemorate gays and lesbians who were killed by the Nazi regime. Perhaps the collapse was written in the stars, with Henderson now brandishing the captain’s armband.
So what next? Kroes said on Monday that Erik ten Hag is in the frame for a potential return to Ajax.
Ten Hag has been out of work since being sacked by Manchester United last October, after leaving Amsterdam for Old Trafford in 2022.
His return will be welcomed after leading Ajax to three titles and that Champions League semi-final run in 2019, knocking Real Madrid and Juventus out along the way. As they sing in Amsterdam, even during a seismic bottle job, don’t worry about a thing.
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