De Jong analyzed at ESPN. ‘You get a 0-1 lead by playing aggressively, but at a certain point that disappears a bit. We are too late, we can’t put any pressure on it anymore and then it becomes 1-1 just before half time…’
After the break, PSV came out of the dressing room differently. ‘We told each other that we can do much better. We start the second half fantastic, then it drops off a bit. What matters in these types of matches is that you are on and concentrated for 95 minutes. We were good in phases, but then too sloppy again.’
Sloppy felt like the magic word for PSV captain De Jong. ‘Due to carelessness, Ajax was able to play football under our pressure. We didn’t get into the matches and then the score became 3-2 due to an unfortunately poor build-up, which somewhat characterizes the evening. It’s a shame. If we had persevered in the right phases, we could have won here.’
In the end, De Jong still showed himself to be a sporting loser. ‘Ajax played and fought fantastically, they did well.’ PSV currently has a five-point lead over Ajax, which played one match less. The people of Eindhoven can now focus on the Champions League, Girona is the opponent on Tuesday.
Also read our tactical analysis of the top match in Amsterdam here:
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