Ajax reduce gap with PSV after win in Dutch league

Ajax handed Dutch league leaders PSV their second defeat of the season, beating their title rivals 3-0 here.

With the closed roof in the Amsterdam Arena on Sunday, heavy snowfall in the Netherlands was not an issue on the pitch, but fans suffered from delays in public transport, speed limitations and several accidents on the roads, reports Xinhua news agency.

To give fans the opportunity to reach the stadium on time, the match started 15 minutes later than scheduled.

Ten points behind on the table, Ajax had to win against PSV, and the home-team dominated the match from the start.

This left PSV, who lost striker Jurgen Locadia through injury after ten minutes, on the defensive.

Still, the dominance led to only one clear chance by Kasper Dolberg, but the Danish striker's attempt went over the crossbar.

In the second half, PSV began with more attempts on the opposite half, but it was Ajax that opened the scoring.

David Neres hit home a deflected corner from outside the penalty box in the 61st minute. Three minutes later, Lasse Schone produced a second goal, also from outside the penalty area, and in the 73rd minute Donny van de Beek decided the match with a left-footed shot from close range.

PSV came close to a consolation goal, but Luuk de Jong headed into the hands of Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana and Marco van Ginkel hit the crossbar with a free-kick.

After the match, the fans who didn't live close to Amsterdam awaited the difficult task to get home, because during the match more snow had fallen, causing rail traffic to suffer from major delays.

Their second loss of the season meant that PSV kept the league leadership with 39 points from 15 matches, but are now only five points in front of second-place AZ and seven ahead of Ajax.

PEC Zwolle are fourth with 29 points from 15 matches, and reigning champions Feyenoord are fifth with 25 points out of 14 matches.

Also on Sunday, Roda JC drew 2-2 against FC Groningen in a winter atmosphere in Kerkrade, while the matches FC Utrecht-Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam-Vitesse were cancelled due to heavy snowfall.

--IANS

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