Substitute Tolu Arokodare scored in the 87th minute and set up Abdellah Ouazane in stoppage time as Ajax beat Atalanta 2-0 at the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Thursday to claim their first UEFA Conference League win of the season.
Deadlock for 87 minutes in Amsterdam
For most of the night this looked like a frustrating goalless draw. Ajax hit the woodwork in the opening minutes when a Lucas Rosa strike was deflected onto the upright by Gianluca Gaetano with Marco Carnesecchi beaten, and the home side had an effort ruled out for offside before Carnesecchi denied Oscar Gloukh and, after the restart, Julian Brandt.
Atalanta had their moments too. Gianluca Scamacca nodded wide from a corner, Gaetano ballooned over from inside the area, and Nicola Zalewski and Lazar Samardzic both went close as the Italians pushed in the second half, as detailed in the match report by Football Italia. Davy Klaassen also survived a risky sliding tackle on Zalewski inside the Ajax penalty area that the referee and VAR waved away.
Arokodare changes the game from the bench
Arokodare had already wasted one big chance, scuffing a first-time finish from a Brandt lay-off, but he did not let it define his night. With three minutes of normal time left, a long ball over the top from Youri Baas sent him chasing into the channel, where he muscled youth defender Relja Obric aside, raced clear and beat Carnesecchi one-on-one to make it 1-0.
The Nigerian was not finished. In the third minute of stoppage time he turned provider, feeding Ouazane, who burst down the left, produced a string of stepovers and smashed his finish in off the underside of the crossbar from the tightest of angles to seal the win, as DailySports reported.
It continues a remarkable start to life in Amsterdam for Arokodare: the Nigerian international has now scored eight goals in nine appearances across all competitions for Ajax.
Injury-hit Atalanta pay for one mistake
Atalanta arrived in Amsterdam with a defensive injury crisis. Sead Kolasinac had joined Giorgio Scalvini, Isak Hien, Odilon Kossounou, Franck Kessie, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Giacomo Raspadori on the treatment table, forcing Maurizio Sarri to hand a first start to Obric, in only the youngster's second senior match. It was Obric who was outmuscled for the opening goal.
Sarri, speaking to Sky Sport Italia after the game, admitted the defeat had blindsided him, saying that going into the last five minutes, defeat was the last thing he was thinking about. Arokodare was not the only Nigerian striker to decide a Conference League game on Thursday — Dessers also struck twice for Panathinaikos in Kazakhstan — on a night when Brighton were held to a goalless draw in the Czech Republic.
So what does it mean?
Ajax move on to three points from two matches after losing their opener 2-1 at Hajduk Split, and they travel to Midtjylland next in this competition on 5 November. Atalanta, winners over Pafos on matchday one, also sit on three points and host Kairat Almaty next — but they leave Amsterdam knowing a point slipped away in the final three minutes, and with a defensive injury list that is not getting any shorter.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is exactly why you keep a finisher on the bench. For 87 minutes Ajax controlled a game they could not kill, and Atalanta's patched-up defence was three minutes from a famous point — then one long ball, one bout of Nigerian strength and one academy talent's outrageous finish flipped the whole night. Arokodare's eight in nine is no longer a hot streak; it is a pattern, and Ajax's season may hinge on it. Was Arokodare the best substitute performance in Europe this week? Let us know in the comments.
