Share
Ajax's Nicolas Tagliafico celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's opening goal but the goal was disallowed after a review by VAR during the first leg, round of sixteen, Champions League soccer match between Ajax and Real Madrid at the Johan Cruyff ArenA in Amsterdam, Netherlands on Wednesday Feb. 13.[/caption]
Amsterdam, Feb. 14 (IANS): Real Madrid, chasing a fourth consecutive Champions League title, needed a goal in the final minutes to pull out a 2-1 win against Ajax Amsterdam in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie.
Real also got help from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which made its first significant intervention in Europe's elite club competition with the erasure of an Ajax goal in the first half here on Wednesday, Efe news reported.
Defensive lapses by the visitors set the tone, often forcing Gareth Bale and Vinicius Junior to drop back and help. And when they didn't, Ajax ran riot.
Only the cross-bar stopped Dusan Tadic from putting the home side ahead and it took a fine stop by keeper Thibaut Courtois to deny Ajax defender Noussair Mazraoui after a giveaway by Sergio Ramos.
The Real Madrid custodian turned aside Matthias de Ligt's header off the Daley Blind corner, but Nicolas Tagliafico was there to hammer in the rebound to make it 1-0 for Ajax in the 37th minute.
Ajax players and supporters went wild, but the celebration ended abruptly when referee Damir Skomina disallowed the goal after an extended look at the replay on the sideline VAR monitor.
Real Madrid were vastly better after the break and Karim Benzema tested Onana in the culmination of a play that began with a pass from Dani Carvajal to Luka Modric.
Unable to maintain their frenetic first-half pace, Ajax largely ceded possession to the visitors and the seemingly inevitable goal came at the hour mark.
Vinicius sliced through the defense and charged across the area before leaving the ball for an onrushing Benzema to put the visitors up 1-0.
The three-time defending champions tried to put the match to bed, but Ziyech got equalizer in the 75th minute and Ajax looked poised to secure the draw until Marco Asensio, who came on for Benzema, scored in the 87th minute with an assist from Carvajal.
Spurs punish Dortmund 3-0
Tottenham Hotspur got the job done in the first leg of the Champions League knockout stage tie against Borussia Dortmund, winning 3-0 to take a giant step toward the quarterfinals.
With Harry Kane and Dele Alli still sidelined by injury on Wednesday's match, Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino again relied on Heung-Min Son up front and the South Korea international scored yet another key goal for the Premier League side, reports Efe news.