AFC Ajax captain Davy Klaassen has labelled PSV player Ruben van Bommel's heavy challenge on defender Aaron Bouwman as a red card offence. The tumultuous top-of-the-table clash at the Johan Cruijff Arena ended in a 1 3 defeat for Ajax on Saturday, though the club sees signs the gap to the elite is narrowing. Ajax currently sits fourth in the Eredivisie with seven points from three matches, five points behind leaders AZ Alkmaar.
That's according to a report by NOS Sport following the match. Bouwman was taken to hospital for a precautionary scan after the final whistle. Klaassen saw him in the dressing room and stated the defender was not feeling well. "I think it was a red card," the captain said. "He didn't do it on purpose, but he came in very hard."
What did PSV manager Peter Bosz say?
PSV coach Peter Bosz had a different view of the incident. He called his player's action unfortunate and without intent. "Unfortunate, no intent. But when you see the speed at which this happened..." Bosz felt the match in Amsterdam had moments of high quality. He noted that chances often come from mistakes, which occurred in both halves. In his view, Ajax had opportunities they should have finished, but the same applied the other way.
The victory means PSV, which recovered from a poor start to the season with an away win at Excelsior, takes the three points. For Van Bommel, it was an emotional return to this level one year after a cruciate ligament injury. PSV defender Armando Obispo said his teammate was upset after the match because of the challenge.
How does Ajax assess the gap to PSV?
Klaassen sees progress for Ajax compared to last season. "We are not miles away from PSV anymore like last season," the midfielder stated. "The gap has decreased, but we still lost 3-1." That analysis was indirectly confirmed by PSV's Obispo, who expected Ajax to be qualitatively better this year before the match. The numbers support that view: Ajax has scored eight goals and conceded only two this season, a goal difference of +6. Their recent form is WDW.
The defeat does mean Ajax could not close the gap to the summit in the standings. Attention now turns to the next assignment.
What is Ajax's next fixture?
Ajax must quickly digest the loss as the schedule waits for no one. The team travels to Enschede on November 8 for an away match against FC Twente, who are currently eighth. It's a significant fixture in the run-up to the winter break. The full schedule can be found on our fixtures page.
For manager John Heitinga's squad, monitoring Bouwman's condition is now a priority. The status of all players is kept updated on our injuries overview. The defender has played a key role in the first three league matches, in which Ajax conceded only two goals.
