Thom Haye's Important Contribution Helps Heerenveen Beat Ajax Amsterdam

JAKARTA - SC Heerenveen managed to secure three points when they hosted Ajax Amsterdam at Abe Lenstra Stadium. The hosts won 3-2 in the 21st week of the Eredivisie 2023/2024, Sunday, February 11, 2024, local time, through the slick contribution of the candidate for naturalization of the Indonesian national team, Thom Haye.

Before the match, several flags were raised. One of them featured Abe Lenstra, a player who once overturned the deficit 1-5 with five goals alone.

Edition against Ajax certainly needs that kind of motivation. Sure enough, they were immediately locked down from the start.

Heerenveen took the lead in the 11th minute through Pelle van Amersfoort's goal. He successfully converted Oliver Braude's cross with a beautiful header.

The goal made the home team's spirit burn even more. Although inferior in terms of possession, they played very effectively.

Evidently, they were able to release 17 shots, five of which were right on target, from only 34 percent possession.

That figure is superior to Ajax's which was only able to shoot 12 times and six of them headed for the goal.

Ajax even only opened up opportunities in the 20th minute. However, Kristian Hlynsson's efforts still hit the crossbar.

After that, it was Heerenveen's turn to threaten again. This time through the action of the prospective Indonesian naturalized player, Thom Haye.

Thom Haye almost doubled the lead had his straight free-kick not hit the post.

Heerenveen's hard work only paid off in the 38th minute. Osame Sahraoui entered the scoreboard after his shot was unable to be driven away by goalkeeper Ajax.

The visitors couldn't open the scoring at all in the first half. All their efforts were still thwarted by goalkeeper Mickey van der Hart. The 2-0 lead for Heerenveen lasted until halftime.

In the second half, Ajax clearly carried out a development mission, while the hosts only had enough to maintain a two-goal advantage.

Instead of reducing the gap, Heerenveen got further away. When the game had only been running for a minute, Van Amersfoort scored a brace as well as the hosts' third goal.

Ajax was only able to open the goal in the 51st minute through Paul Bochniewicz's own goal. The visitors got closer in the 79th minute through Chuba Akpom's goal.

However, until the end of the match, the host Heerenveen was able to maintain the 3-2 superiority.

Thom Haye is certainly the host's public spotlight apart from Van Amersfoort who scored two goals. The Indonesian player has an important contribution even though he did not score.

It is recorded that the 29-year-old midfielder has a score of 7.5 in the WhoScored statistic. That figure only lost to Amersfoort who got a score of 8.5.

Thom Haye's slick assessment cannot be separated from the effectiveness of his players in creating opportunities for the team.

In addition to a free kick that hit the post, Thom Haye had a successful pass 80 times from the 83 he released.

Thom Haye became the central figure in Heerenveen's midfield. He played full when the team silenced Ajax Amsterdam at home.

Currently Heerenveen is ranked 11th in the Eredivisie standings 2023/2024 with 25 points, while Ajax is on the fifth ladder with 35 points.