Player Ratings | Ajax 4-0 Sparta Rotterdam – Berghuis raises the roof

Amsterdam – A hushed Johan Cruyff Arena may have lacked its usual thunder, but Steven Berghuis supplied the lightning as Ajax dismantled Sparta Rotterdam 4-0 to give new head coach Oscar García a dream debut and move within two points of second-placed Feyenoord.

The backdrop was sombre: Ajax ultras banned after November’s suspended fixture against Groningen, leaving vast swathes of seats empty and the home advantage muted. Sparta, winless in five, sensed vulnerability and should have struck first when Tobias Lauritsen glanced a 12th-minute header inches wide.

Instead, Ajax found their spark through the returning Berghuis. The 34-year-old, starting only his second match since September after persistent groin and knee issues, opened the scoring on 19 minutes when his speculative free-kick clipped the dangling left boot of Joshua Kitolano and looped beyond Joel Drommel. The deflection was cruel on the visitor, yet it ignited the hosts.

Berghuis doubled the lead nine minutes later, latching on to 18-year-old Sean Steur’s unselfish cut-back and rifling high into the roof of the net. Lauritsen again threatened before the break, but Maarten Paes arched acrobatically to tip his header away.

The second half became an exercise in attack-versus-defence. Drommel twice denied Mika Godts in quick succession, the second after a Kitolano error, and Don-Angelo Konadu will replay his 50th-minute horror miss for years, side-footing wide from three yards after Berghuis had squared for what looked a certain goal.

Ajax’s third arrived on 73 minutes. Godts, irrepressible down the right, threaded a slide-rule pass for Davy Klaassen, who strode clear to finish calmly from 16 yards. Three minutes later Godts claimed the goal his performance merited, twisting Sambo inside-out before lifting a composed finish over the advancing Drommel.

The scoreline could have ballooned further, but the whistle spared Sparta additional punishment. The Rotterdam side remain eighth; Ajax climb nine points clear of their victims and back into the scrap for the country’s final Champions League berth.

Player Ratings

Ajax Maarten Paes (6) – Rarely stretched, the goalkeeper secured only his second clean sheet since arriving from Dallas. Takehiro Tomiyasu (6) – The ex-Arsenal defender enjoyed a quiet evening on the left. Sean Steur (8) – The teenager’s vision and selflessness set up Berghuis’ second; García singled him out for praise post-match. Davy Klaassen (8) – Dictated tempo with surgical passing and crowned his display with a clinical strike. Don-Angelo Konadu (6) – Worked hard but will be haunted by his open-goal blunder. Steven Berghuis (9) – Six key passes, a goal and an assist merely hint at his influence. The veteran offered proof of what Ajax have lacked during his injury exile. Mika Godts (8) – Tormented Sparta’s right flank all night and got the goal he deserved.

Sparta Rotterdam Joel Drommel (7) – Produced a string of reflex saves to keep the score respectable. Bruno Martins Indi (5) – Caught out of position repeatedly, allowing Godts freedom to run. Pelle Clement (6) – Largely anonymous until his 69th-minute withdrawal. Joshua Kitolano (4) – An ill-judged leg provided the decisive deflection and his second-half sloppiness almost gifted another goal. Tobias Lauritsen (6) – Showed early promise but failed to convert the chances that might have altered the narrative.

The result rekindles Ajax’s push for Champions League qualification and reminds the Eredivisie that, even in an eerily quiet arena, Berghuis can still raise the roof.