Ajax down to 9 men after Referee sends off both Daley Blind and Joel Veltman in the space of seconds vs Chelsea during their Champions league encounter.
There is an old adage about a game of football never truly being over until the final whistle is blown. The match between Chelsea and Ajax was proof that the proverb is indeed true as the match swung in both team’s favour before finally settling on a draw.
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Ajax started the match hot and ended the first half with a 3-1 lead despite only landing one shot on target. The other two goals were however, rather harshly given as own-goals. Chelsea had conceded 3 goals in the first half of a champions league match for the first time in their history.
Chelsea looked to be in even greater trouble after Donny Van de Beek scored Ajax’s 4th goal in the 55th minute. The match appeared to have been sealed shut on the blues. However, Chelsea scored their second goal in the 63rd minute of the match through their captain Azpilicueta.
The game still looked to be in Ajax’s favour. With less than half an hour to go and still a two-goal lead in hand, it seemed that the Dutch Champions had the 3 points all but guaranteed. However, there was still much more madness left in the game.
Ajax down to 9 men after Referee sends off both Daley Blind and Joel Veltman in the space of seconds vs Chelsea
In the 68th minute of the match, Daley Blind shoved Jorginho to the floor before getting up and slamming Tammy Abraham with a slide tackle. However, once Callum Hudson-Odoi’s shot hit Joel Veltman’s hand in the penalty area, the referee stopped play to hand Blind his second yellow card.
As if one red card wasn’t detrimental to Ajax already, the referee turned to Veltman and handed him his second yellow card of the night. This not only left the visitors with 9 men on the field but it also gave Chelsea a penalty.
Jorginho made no mistake from the spot as he reduced Ajax’s lead to just 1. Reece James then became the youngest Chelsea player to score in a champions league as he rifled the equaliser in the 74th minute. However, that would be the last of the goals scored tonight.
Chelsea’s tenacity to come back from a 4-1 deficit while Ajax’s resolve at sticking it out despite being down to 9 men, means that a draw seems like a fair result. Both sides will however, feel like they should have come out victorious. The fans though, will hardly complain after witnessing a match that had everything you want from a football match.
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