Atalanta wasteful again as Ajax snatch late win in Amsterdam
Atalanta fired 15 shots without hitting the target as stoppage-time goals from Tolu Arokodare and Abdellah Ouazane gave Ajax a 2-0 Conference League win.
Atalanta managed 15 shots without a single one troubling Marc ter Stegen, and it cost them a Conference League match they had largely controlled territorially in spells. Two late strikes, from substitute Tolu Arokodare in the 87th minute and Abdellah Ouazane three minutes into stoppage time, gave Ajax a 2-0 win at the Johan Cruijff Arena that flattered the scoreline against the run of chances created, according to Football Italia.
The result leaves La Dea's form stubbornly erratic. They had strung together wins over Venezia and Pafos after three straight defeats, only to lose 3-2 to Milan at the weekend, and this latest reverse continues that pattern of promise undone by lapses at either end of matches.
An injury list that forced a teenager into the back line
Atalanta travelled to Amsterdam without Giorgio Scalvini, Isak Hien, Odilon Kossounou, Franck Kessie, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Giacomo Raspadori, with Sead Kolasinac joining that list before kick-off, per Football Italia. The depleted defence meant youth-team player Relja Obric made his first senior start, just days after his senior debut.
That inexperience showed at the sharp end of the match. For Ajax's opener, a long ball over the top let Arokodare muscle Obric aside in the air and go through one-on-one with Marco Carnesecchi, finishing low to break the deadlock. Ajax were themselves missing Daley Blind, Steven Berghuis, Oliver Edvardsen, Caio Henrique, Simon Adingra, Anton Gaaei and Kasper Dolberg, with Yves Bissouma also absent from the squad list, so neither side fielded anything close to a first-choice XI.
Chances created, none converted
The statistics tell the story of Atalanta's afternoon better than the result does. Ajax had 61% of the possession and more total shots, 21 to 15, but Atalanta's inability to test ter Stegen even once from those 15 attempts is the number that actually decided the contest. Gianluca Scamacca headed wide from a corner, Gianluca Gaetano ballooned over from inside the area right before half-time, and Lazar Samardzic blasted over late on, all clear openings that went unrewarded.
Ajax had their own let-offs. Gaetano saw a deflected Lucas Rosa shot cannon off the upright in the opening minutes with Carnesecchi beaten, and the hosts had a goal ruled out after 16 minutes when Davy Klaassen was caught offside following a lengthy check. Owen Wijndal fired wide from distance and Oscar Gloukh's solo run was comfortably saved by Carnesecchi, who also got down to deny Julian Brandt at the start of the second half.
The best Atalanta counter-attacking chance of the night went begging in transition. Scamacca intercepted a loose Ajax pass in the final third and released Nicola Zalewski with options alongside him, but Zalewski chose the wrong pass and the move broke down. It was the kind of moment that, taken, might have changed the complexion of a game Atalanta were not losing on chances created.
Two substitutes settle it in the closing minutes
Arokodare's introduction changed the balance of the match even before his goal. He had already scuffed a clean first-time finish from inside the area off a Brandt lay-off, a miss that would have been costly had Ajax not found their breakthrough minutes later. When the chance came again, via Youri Baas's long ball, he made no mistake, bullying his way past Obric to score.
The second goal, in the last action of the game, showed similar craft from another substitute. Ouazane drove into the area down the left with what Football Italia described as cheeky movement from the tightest of angles, and smashed his finish in off the underside of the crossbar, assisted by Arokodare. It was a clinical punishment of a side that had shown plenty of attacking intent without ever forcing a save.
Atalanta's set-piece and transition play had offered enough to suggest a different outcome was possible, but the absence of a cutting edge in front of goal, allied to the defensive inexperience forced on them by injuries, proved decisive in the final ten minutes. The Conference League table now reflects two matchdays of mixed fortune for both clubs, with Atalanta needing to turn territorial dominance into actual shots on target if results are to follow.