JAKARTA - Sebastien Haller scored chess goals when helping Ajax crush Sporting CP's host with a score of 5-1 in the Champions League Group C match at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, Lisbon, Portugal, Wednesday local time.
The win made Haller only the second player to mark his Champions League debut with four goals, after Ajax and Netherlands legend Marco van Basten in 1992.
Another Ajax winning goal was contributed by Steven Berghuis, while the hosts could only reply once through Paulinho who could not be separated from the non-optimal anticipation of goalkeeper Remko Pasveer.
Launching Antara, the victory brought Ajax to the top of the standings armed with a goal difference advantage over Borussia Dortmund, who "only" won 2-1 over Besiktas in the early game, while Sporting appeared to be caretaker.
️🔴⚪️ Sébastien Haller scored FOUR goals on his Champions League debut ️⚽️⚽️⚽️#UCL pic.twitter.com/AhW8NoSP4A
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 15, 2021
After last season's absence in Europe due to Ajax's negligence in registering his squad, Haller showed his sharpness to put the Dutch giants into a two-goal lead in the first nine minutes.
The game was not even two minutes old when Antony Matheus fired a shot that hit the post and goalkeeper Antonio Adan was made awkward by it, so that the ball was thrown up by Haller who was standing relatively unmarked.
Then seven minutes later Haller broke into the host's goal again with a simple flick of the fruit of the collective game of Antony who chose to release a pull bait after making a stab from the right side.
After a forgettable first 10 minutes, Sporting slowly put up a fight and finally found the back of the net in the 33rd minute after Paulinho's weak shot failed to be anticipated by Pasveer and the ball nestled into the Ajax goal.
But six minutes later Ajax restored their two-goal lead after Ryan Gravenberch's through ball cut through the home defense which Berghuis finished perfectly to make it 3-1.
Players to score FOUR goals on their Champions League debut:⚪️🔴 Sébastien Haller (2021/22)🔴⚫️ Marco van Basten (1992/93)#UCL pic.twitter.com/RB7abIazaE
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 15, 2021
Two minutes into the second half, Paulinho broke into the Ajax goal again with his accurate header welcoming Zouhair Feddal's cross. Unfortunately the host's public celebration died down a minute later after the referee and VAR annulled the goal for offside.
Sporting's bad luck continued because in the 51st minute Ajax actually widened their advantage after holding a clinical counter-attack ending with Antony's accurate pull pass, which Haller only had to cheat to complete the hat-trick.
Two minutes later, Sporting almost made it 2-4 if only Pedro Porro's swerving shot that hit Daley Blind didn't hit the post before being fully secured by Pasveer.
The three goals did not satisfy Haller, who ripped through the home net again in the 63rd minute when he calmly controlled Noussair Mazraoui's through ball and beat Adan in a one-on-one situation.
Sporting's efforts to dismantle Ajax's defense in the absence of time failed to bear fruit and the visitors' 1-5 score remained on the big screen when the referee blew the whistle to disperse.
In the next match, Ajax will host Besiktas at the Johan Cruijff Arena and Sporting travel to Signal Iduna Park to face Borussia Dortmund on 28 September.
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