Tolu Arokodare scored twice and made another as Ajax produced the result of the Conference League season so far, demolishing Danish Superliga leaders Midtjylland 6-1 in Herning against ten men to make it back-to-back European wins.
This was supposed to be the night Ajax's young side met their match: away in Denmark, against a Midtjylland team unbeaten at the top of their domestic league. Instead, Michel Sanchez's side dismantled them with a second-half blitz of five goals that will echo around this competition.
Arokodare strikes, Watjen walks, tie turns
Ajax set the tone inside nine minutes. Oscar Gloukh delivered and Arokodare, the Nigerian striker on a season-long loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, rose to head the visitors in front. Midtjylland responded the way domestic champions should: Friday Etim levelled on 28 minutes, and at 1-1 the game was alive. The full timeline is recorded on the Sportradar match centre, and the contest's decisive moment arrived two minutes before half-time. Kjell Watjen, already booked on 35 minutes, collected a second yellow card and was sent off, leaving Mike Tullberg's side to play the entire second half with ten men.
What followed was a masterclass in punishing a team a man down. Seven minutes after the restart, 17-year-old Abdellah Ouazane slipped Arokodare through for his second of the night. On 59 minutes the striker turned provider, setting up left-back Owen Wijndal to make it 3-1, and when Wijndal returned the favour with a cross that captain Davy Klaassen headed home on 67 minutes, the MCH Arena had emptied of belief. Gloukh, outstanding all evening, got the goal his performance deserved on 74 minutes from Rayane Bounida's assist, and there was still time for substitute Marcos Leonardo — on for Arokodare — to head in Gloukh's delivery on 82 minutes and complete the rout.
The numbers were as stark as the scoreline: Ajax finished with 69 per cent possession, 21 shots to Midtjylland's eight, 11 on target to four, and eight corners to one. Home goalkeeper Nordin Bakker made five saves and still conceded six.
The Arokodare story keeps growing
The African angle of this Ajax rebuild gets more compelling by the week. Arokodare arrived in Amsterdam in July with an option to buy attached to his loan from Wolves, scored off the bench in the 2-0 win over Atalanta on matchday two, and started tonight for the first time in this competition. His response — two goals, an assist, six shots, and a standing threat that Midtjylland's centre-backs never solved — took his tally for the season to 12 goals. The timeline on the Wincomparator match page underlines how complete his night was: involved in each of Ajax's first three goals before being withdrawn to applause with the game won.
It is rapidly becoming the worst-kept secret in Dutch football that Ajax will trigger that purchase option. Performances like this, on a European night away from home, are exactly why. For the Nigerian, left out of the picture at Molineux, this loan is turning into a career-defining season — and nights like Herning are why our European coverage tonight, including the Crystal Palace and Hoffenheim team news, keeps circling back to the African stars shaping this competition.
So what does this rout actually mean?
Ajax climb to six points from three matches — a defeat at Hajduk Split followed by wins over Atalanta and now this — and a fifth straight victory in all competitions under Sanchez, whose young side suddenly look like one of the teams to beat in the Conference League. For Midtjylland, the European campaign is unravelling fast: one point from three games, a first home defeat of the season that became a humiliation, and serious questions about how a side so dominant domestically can be this open in Europe. Tullberg must now pick his players up with the league phase halfway gone.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: This was a statement, not a scoreline. Ajax were ruthless, Gloukh was unplayable and Arokodare delivered the complete centre-forward performance — two goals, an assist and terror in every duel. If Wolves are watching, the option-to-buy clause is about to look very cheap. Are Ajax now the favourites to win this Conference League — and should Nigeria build their attack around Arokodare? Let us know what you think in the comments.
