Salzburg turn on style to see off Ajax
Thursday, February 27, 2014
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FC Salzburg 3-1 AFC Ajax (agg: 6-1)
Roger Schmidt's men put three past the Dutch champions for the second week running to book a round of 16 tie against FC Basel 1893.
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FC Salzburg completed the job in style against AFC Ajax by putting three goals past the Dutch champions for the second time in a week to set up a UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie with FC Basel 1893.
After blowing Frank de Boer's side away in the first leg, Salzburg picked up where they left on home turf, hitting the woodwork twice in the first period before Mike van der Hoorn turned into his own net after the restart. Sadio Mané's cool finish on 66 minutes and Jonatan Soriano's tap-in sealed a round of 32 second-leg win which maintains the Austrian title holders' 100% record in this season's competition.
Riding the crest of a wave following their success in Amsterdam, the hosts attacked at will in the opening 45 minutes. Kevin Kampl's lob over Jasper Cillessen improbably bounced twice on the crossbar before Stefano Denswil cleared off the line. Roger Schmidt's men continued to get behind Ajax and Soriano rattled a powerful left-footed drive off the upright as the visitors clung on.
Home keeper Péter Gulácsi made sharp reaction saves from Kolbeinn Sigthórsson and Lesly de Sa to prevent Ajax getting a sniff of a comeback, and any hope was extinguished on 56 minutes when Soriano's powerful cross was met by Van der Hoorn and sent past keeper Cillessen. Salzburg proceeded to enjoy themselves – Mané was slipped through and made no mistake when one-on-one, before competition top scorer Soriano registered his seventh of the campaign, simply knocking in Mané's centre at the back post. Davy Klaassen's deflected effort from range provided consolation for Ajax, yet could do nothing to stop his team departing at this stage of competition for the third successive year.