- Ajax and Aston Villa played out a goalless draw when they met on Thursday night.
- Both teams had players sent off at the end of the clash at the Johan Cruyff Arena
- CHRIS SUTTON and IAN LADYMAN give their title predictions (finally!) – Podcast Everything is beginning
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Jordan Henderson kept his chances of adding a ninth major trophy to his collection alive with an impressive display as his Ajax team took on a 10-man Aston Villa side.
Although Villa will be favorites to progress to the Europa Conference League quarter-finals after the second leg in Birmingham next week, Henderson showed all his experience in European competition to boost this young team.
Constantly encouraging and guiding his colleagues, Henderson showed he still has the guts to make it at this level and it did nothing to hurt his chances of retaining his place in the England team this month. But Villa manager Unai Emery will also be pleased with the result, if not the performance.
With one eye on Sunday’s big Premier League clash against Tottenham, Emery held off Leon Bailey and John McGinn until midway through the second half, with both starters safe against Spurs. Villa defender Ezri Konsa was sent off along with Ajax’s Tristan Gooijer as referee Enea Jorgji had a poor game.
This team doesn’t have the class of some Ajax teams of the past, but in the first half they had the measure of Villa.
Ajax and Aston Villa played out a goalless draw when they met in Europe on Thursday night.
Both teams finished the match with 10 men after the sending off of Ezri Konsa and Tristan Gooijer.
Jordan Henderson (centre) maintained his chances of adding a ninth major trophy to his collection.
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Moussa Diaby had a weak shot saved comfortably in the fifth minute and that was the best it got for Emery’s men before the break as Ajax held them off with relative ease.
Had the home team’s attackers timed their runs better, they could have caused Villa more problems at the other end. Instead, all they had to show for their efforts was a Henderson free kick from 25 yards that didn’t trouble Emi Martínez, and a poor close-range finish from Brian Brobbey after running onto Jorrel Hato’s pass.
It had been a monotonous first half and neither team was able to pick up the pace at the start of the second. Martínez lost concentration and passed the ball out of play on an avoidable corner, which Ajax could not take advantage of. And the Argentine came to his team’s rescue soon after, when he cut out Kenneth Taylor’s low cross with Kristian Hylnsson closing in.
Taylor wasted Ajax’s second clear chance midway through the second half when Borna Sosa capitalized on his final run into the box and the Dutch international forced a strong save from Martínez.
Villa will be full of confidence as they prepare for the second leg at Villa Park
At this point McGinn and Bailey were replacing Villa and Bailey instantly became more threatening than Diaby as he forced his way into the box and took out a fantastic block from Hato.
With time running out, Ezri Konsa received a second yellow card when he brought down former Middlesbrough substitute Chuba Akpom and will now miss the second leg. From the free kick, Akpom returned to the danger zone, but Brobbey missed the attempt over him.
It was soon 10 against 10 when Tristian Gooijer received a second very harsh booking for pulling substitute Nicolo Zaniolo inside the Villa half. Then, in added time, Bailey’s volley was superbly blocked by Ahmetcan Kaplan.