Tottenham’s hopes of a mounting a comeback in their Champions League semi-final against Ajax got off to the worst possible start when Matthijs de Ligt headed the Dutch side ahead inside five minutes.
Having won 1-0 away from home in London a week ago, Ajax went into Wednesday night’s second leg at the Johan Cruyff Arena as favourites to reach the final against Liverpool, in Madrid next month.
They began on the front foot, unperturbed by losing Brazilian forward David Neres in the warm-up, with top scorer Dusan Tadic forcing an excellent diving save from Spurs ‘keeper Hugo Lloris.
From the resulting corner though, whipped in by Lasse Schone, 19-year-old captain De Ligt rose highest above Dele Alli to power an excellent header into the far corner, with no defender on the post.
The goal made De Ligt just the fourth teenager to score in a Champions League semi-final, and kept his hopes of lifting the famous trophy Madrid firmly on track.
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