Ajax advances to the next round of the Europa League after penalties win

After an amazing 34-point penalty shootouts, Ajax moved on to the next round of the Europa League qualification tournament.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Anton Gaeei scoring the game-winning penalty. In the following round, the Amsterdammers will take on Jagiellonia Bialystok from Poland. The Johan Cruijff ArenA has not seen a penalty shootout in a senior match since Italy's victory over the Netherlands in the 2000 Euro semifinal. Ajax missed four of their penalties, while Panathinaikos missed five. Brian Brobbey, the striker, amazingly failed to convert both of his penalties in the shootout.

In the opening Eredivisie encounter of the season, Francesco Farioli made six changes to the lineup that defeated SC Heerenveen. Carlos Forbs, Kenneth Taylor, Kian Fitz-Jim, Jordan Henderson, Jorrel Hato, Devyne Rensch, and Jordan Henderson rejoined the team. They all also began the opening leg of the Amsterdam team's 1-0 victory over Panathinaikos last week. Twenty-five minutes in, Ajax got their first real opportunity of the game. Jordan Henderson chipped a well-executed free kick into the area and headed it over to Chuba Akpom, but he blasted it over the goal because it was slightly behind him.

After three minutes, Akpom was given another opportunity from a set piece. Henderson turned to face the far post, where Kenneth Taylor led it back into the area of potential danger. Greek forward Fotis Ioannidis was there to save his side by clearing the ball before it into the goal, but Panathinaikos goalkeeper Bartłomiej Drągowski arrived too late and missed the opportunity. The penalties were a glaring display of the teams' current skill levels.

Many of the incredibly high number of missed penalties were lucky to find their way through. After saving multiple penalties and stopping a penalty taken by former Feyenoord midfielder Tonny Vilhena, Pasveer emerged as the game's hero. Anton Gaaei had the task of making the game-winning penalty kick.