AFC Ajax produced a clinical performance on the road to defeat Heracles Almelo 3–0 on Eredivisie matchday 30, with Steven Berghuis netting a brace after an early opener from Mika Godts.
The visitors seized control inside the opening 20 minutes. In the 16th minute, Mika Godts broke the deadlock for Ajax, finishing a move created by Jorthy Mokio to make it 1–0. Barely a minute later, Ajax doubled their advantage when Steven Berghuis struck, converting after a contribution from Wout Weghorst to put the Amsterdam side 2–0 up.
Heracles sought a response after the break, but Ajax struck again almost immediately. Just two minutes into the second half, in the 47th minute, Berghuis grabbed his second of the evening. The forward was on hand to finish from an Oscar Gloukh assist, stretching the lead to 3–0 and effectively putting the contest out of reach.
Heracles made a series of substitutions in an effort to change the momentum, introducing Sava Cestic at half-time and later bringing on Luka Kulenović, Djevencio van der Kust, Erik Ahlstrand and Walid Ould-Chikh. Ajax also rotated, with Takehiro Tomiyasu replacing Ko Itakura in the 66th minute and late appearances for Sean Steur, Oliver Edvardsen and Aaron Bouwman.
Discipline became a talking point in the closing stages. Heracles picked up two yellow cards, shown to Walid Ould-Chikh in the 74th minute and Alec Van Hoorenbeeck two minutes later. Ajax were reduced to ten men in the 79th minute when Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off with a straight red card.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Ajax comfortably saw out the remaining minutes to secure a convincing away victory. Detailed statistics such as possession figures, shot counts and player ratings were not available at the time of writing.
For more information on the match and competition context, visit the full match page on Ballaxy: Heracles Almelo vs AFC Ajax and the Eredivisie overview.
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