Erik ten Hag saw his Ajax side fall to a disappointing 2-1 loss to arch-rivals PSV in the KNVB Cup final on Sunday.
Ajax took the lead in the first half, but conceded twice in the space of 90 seconds early in the second half to suffer the loss.
Despite the defeat, Ten Hag’s side produced some exciting football and were just unlucky in the final third as well as with some decisions.
They had two goals ruled out because of the slightest of offside, frustrating the Dutch gaffer.
Ajax were also unlucky not to be awarded a penalty early on as it seemed like Dusan Tadic was fouled in the box.
After dominating the first half, Ajax started the second one slowly. The two goals conceded, however, were individual errors and Ten Hag couldn’t do anything about it.
The first from Erick Gutierrez was from a set piece, allowed because of some poor defending from a free-kick.
The second was after Lisandro Martinez gave away the ball in his own box and Cody Gakpo capitalized on it before producing a stunning strike from outside the box.
Ajax dominated 59% of the possession and had 8 shot attempts, but couldn’t find the back of the net after that single goal from Ryan Gravenberch.
Tadic also struck the bar later in the second half, while another attempt was later blocked in the box.
Ten Hag’s decision to bench the club's top scorer Sebastian Haller, however, was questionable. His replacement, Brian Brobbey, had a poor game and missed an absolute sitter in the first half.
Unfortunately for Erik, he missed two key players in Antony and Nicolas Tagliafico for this game, which didn’t help at all.
Ajax not have only one piece of silverware to fight for this season, that is the Eredivisie title, as they’re currently in first place with 5 games remaining.
Ten Hag’s rating: 6.5/10
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