Ajax keep Champions League dream alive after late Godts strike haunts PSV

[p]As [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psv/M9UEHJWi/"]PSV[/a] arrived in Amsterdam as the champions, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] were looking to stay in the battle for second place, which grants direct qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League. The Amsterdam giants did so with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dolberg-kasper/C8C5vSB8/"]Kasper Dolberg[/a] in place of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/weghorst-wout/tpWMDFoL/"]Wout Weghorst[/a], and a defensive-minded midfield featuring [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/itakura-ko/xGFA759a/"]Ko Itakura[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/regeer-youri/fB0UN6SA/"]Youri Regeer[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mokio-jorthy/lQdp4JnH/"]Jorthy Mokio[/a].[/p][embed guid="b830e1ba-8787-43fd-86f2-5e0b90286dea" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2050638350629949553?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]After receiving a guard of honour from their Amsterdam rivals, PSV, who [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/soccer-eredivisie-it-s-good-timing-psv-players-to-take-holiday-on-ibiza-in-week-of-ajax-clash/OC8BHE36/"]spent a couple of days on Ibiza[/a] in the week leading up to Saturday's clash, added more salt to the home crowd's wounds when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pepi-ricardo/GE8fEuGS/"]Ricardo Pepi[/a] scored the opener 33 seconds into the match, heading home at the far post after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hernadis-yarek-gasiorowski/4UxxcIjS/"]Yarek Gasiorowski[/a] extended a long throw-in from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sildillia-kiliann/WCM2C2l0/"]Kiliann Sildillia[/a].[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/driouech-couhaib/KMLoViGQ/"]Couhaib Driouech[/a] looked all but set to make it 2-0 inside the opening ten minutes, but couldn't get enough power behind the ball to place it in an empty net.[/p][p][b]A spectacular opening phase turned into a goalfest when a corner routine ended with Ajax right-back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gaaei-anton/Cb4do3Z5/"]Anton Gaaei[/a] firing it into [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kovar-matej/tIXuiy4C/"]Matej Kovar[/a]'s far corner from outside the box, levelling the score again after 13 minutes.[/b][/p][embed guid="e94d2539-a566-45ec-badd-af773646e47a" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2050640772370694360?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]It was all Ajax the rest of the way, with the hosts cooking up chances for the excellently playing Dolberg and Jorthy Mokio, the latter of whom rolled the ball just wide of Kovar's goal with a minute remaining in the first half.[/p][p]A rather sloppy first 15 minutes of the second half saw only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/berghuis-steven/8vVtUw90/"]Steven Berghuis[/a] take a goal under fire as the veteran curled one over Kovar's bar.[/p][p][b]Sloppiness turned into impotence as the game became a shadow of what it once was - Ajax and PSV failed to register a shot on target until the 77th minute, when substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boadu-myron/GE24QNxi/"]Myron Boadu[/a] restored PSV's lead with a seemingly accidental goal, giving the ball one last nudge after he and Itakura slipped.[/b][/p][p][b]It looked to become another second-half trauma for Ajax, who played a disappointing half but miraculously stole a point when Mika Godts vollied in a rebound in the 92nd minute after Anton Gaaei tested Kovar shortly before, thus scoring his 17th goal of the season and stealing a late win from PSV's grip.[/b][/p][p]For the second time during their disappointing 2025-26 season, Ajax held champions PSV to a draw. The point keeps Ajax alive in the fight for the Champions League spots, but the club will have to hope for favourable results elsewhere with Feyenoord's 3-point lead tough to overtake in the final two rounds.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ajax-8UOvIwnb/psv-M9UEHJWi/?mid=UD7o4Wr1"]Check out all the match and player statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="7dcd21a3-4a8b-455a-a65a-ba3543630ebc" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="6dda1002-b621-4c6b-8a6d-410ef9f88bc9" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /]