news desk
\nLONDON
\nAjax closed in on a first Champions League final for 23 years as Donny van de Beek\u00b4s early goal beat an injury-hit Tottenham 1-0 in the first leg of their semi-final on Tuesday.
\nVan de Beek\u00b4s opener on 15 minutes was just reward for the Dutch side\u00b4s first-half dominance as Tottenham badly missed the presence of the injured Harry Kane and suspended Son Heung-min.
\nTottenham improved after the break despite another injury blow as Jan Vertonghen had to be helped down the tunnel after a sickening head knock, but lacked the inspiration needed to get back on level terms without their two top scorers.
\nAnd Ajax could easily have had an even greater lead to take back to the Johan Cruyff Arena for the second leg next week when David Neres hit the post 10 minutes from time.
\nAjax had shown they are not fazed on the road despite the tender age of many of their squad by shocking Real Madrid and Juventus away to reach the last four and started confidently.
\nSpurs were happy to sit deep and wait for their chances to counter-attack, but that gameplan was undone when Hakim Ziyech\u00b4s through ball picked out midfielder Van de Beek who took his time to leave Hugo Lloris prone before slotting into the bottom corner.
\nLloris kept his side in the game 10 minutes later from another Van de Beek effort as Ajax threatened to run riot.
\nFernando Llorente was the hero with the decisive goal as Mauricio Pochettino\u00b4s men upset the odds to end Manchester City\u00b4s quest for a quadruple of trophies in the quarter-finals.
\nHowever, the cumbersome Spaniard struggled to provide the out ball his side needed to relieve the Ajax pressure. Set-pieces provided Tottenham\u00b4s best chance of scoring before the break as Llorente headed wide and Toby Alderweireld over from Kieran Trippier free-kicks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
news desk LONDON Ajax closed in on a first Champions League final for 23 years as Donny van de Beek\u00b4s early goal beat an injury-hit Tottenham 1-0 in the first leg of their semi-final on Tuesday. Van de Beek\u00b4s opener on 15 minutes was just reward for the Dutch side\u00b4s first-half dominance as Tottenham badly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n