‘Brighton is a street length ahead of the fallen superpower’, headlines the boulevard newspaper The Sun. ‘Brighton made his wildest dreams come true in the city of sin and took a big step towards European wintering. Two consecutive victories, no fan would have dared to dream of that a year ago, no matter what they had smoked.’
The Times speaks of a ‘historic evening’ under the ‘famous roof of the Johan Cruijff Arena’. ‘Although it is not the Ajax of yesteryear, of Cruijff, Kluivert, Bergkamp, Van Basten or De Boer, the team of De Zerbi An achieved a mighty victory – one that will be remembered for a long time. Remarkably, Ajax are the only team to have been beaten by Brighton in their last nine games.’
Fout van Silvano Vos
Broadcaster BBC saw Brighton strike mercilessly at decisive moments against a very young Ajax, whose starting line-up had an average age of 21.6 years. ‘A good start was undermined by a mistake by teenager Silvano Vos. And they then struggled to find an opening until Brobbey hit both goalposts. Although Ajax showed a lot of effort – Chuba Akpom also came close – the team lacked the ruthlessness that the opponent had.’
The Guardian saw Brighton win with the same ease as they did in England two weeks ago. ‘Since then there has been a new trainer in John van ‘t Schip, but despite an upturn in form it never seemed like they had the firepower to make things difficult for Brighton. Brighton could have won by an even wider margin if the good chances had not been squandered.’
‘Ajax had more ball possession in the first half, but hardly managed to make things difficult for goalkeeper Verbruggen,’ the newspaper continues. ‘Fifteen minutes before the end they were very close, but Ajax didn’t get any closer, while Brighton recorded its first away win in Europe.’
‘The Seagulls recorded a famous victory against the four-time European champions,” writes Sky Sports about Brighton’s victory after goals from Ansu Fati and Simon Adingra. ‘Ajax, which remains in Group B, offered little in return, although Brobbey hit the post twice.’
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