Dutch football couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. Led by Guus Til’s hat trick, PSV Eindhoven defeated their arch-rivals AFC Ajax 5-3 to win the 2022 Johan Cruyff Shield at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.
PSV debutant Til didn’t take long to announce himself to the fans. By the 70th minute of the match, the former Spartak Moscow midfielder had already elevated his status to cult legend after scoring a fabulous hattrick against Ajax to help his side win 5-3.
The annual curtain raiser to Dutch football, the Johan Cruyff Shield, featured a host of new faces among the players as well as the coaches. Erik ten Hag, who had already left for Manchester United, has been replaced by his former assistant Alfred Schreuder who also served as assistant to Ronald Koeman at Barcelona.
Meanwhile, iconic Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy has taken over the reins from Roger Schmidt, who guided PSV to cup success last season before making his way to SL Benfica in Portugal.
Van Nistelrooy was witness to fine predatory instincts from their new signing Til. The 24-year-old opened the scoring after he headed home two first-half goals and then added another in the 69th minute as PSV pulled off an upset against defending league champions.
Ajax had actually taken the lead of the contest through new signing Steven Bergwijn, who joined from Tottenham this summer. However, they were trailing 2-1 at the break, courtesy of Til’s exploits.
Brazilian winger Antony made it 2-2 just nine minutes into the second half. However, Cody Gakpo and Til extended PSV’s advantage to 4-2 with just 20 minutes left to play.
Mohamed Kudus pulled off a cracking shot with his left foot to restore hopes for Ajax once again and reduce the scoreline deficit to 4-3 in the 72nd minute. However, the home side had to go down to 10 men when Calvin Bassey, in his debut appearance from the bench, was sent off six minutes later.
PSV finished things off in style, with former PSG midfielder Xavi Simons finding the back of the net in the first minute of added time at the end of the contest.
