Backed by a bouncing Johan Cruyff Arena, an Ajax side captained by England international Jordan Henderson forced Emiliano Martinez into action in the opening 20 minutes. The Argentine made a strong stop to deny Brian Brobbey, whose header would have ultimately been chalked off for offside.
As the contest moved past the half-hour mark, Brobbey timed his run to perfection to latch onto Jorrel Hato’s well-weighted through ball, but to the frustration of the home support, the forward could only send his left-foot strike into the side netting.
With neither side able to break the deadlock in the first half, Ajax went into the second period with aspirations of making full use of home advantage. However, the hosts were finding it tough to break through a stubborn Villa backline, who were determined to return to England with a clean sheet.
Despite being frustrated for much of the second half, John van't Schip’s side carved out a rare opportunity in the 67th minute when Kenneth Taylor met Borna Sosa’s neat cut-back to draw a fine save from Martinez.
A fairly mundane contest experienced a dramatic three-minute period, with the referee Enea Jorgji brandishing second yellow cards to Villa’s Ezri Konsa and Ajax’s Tristan Gooijer.
However, those dismissals ultimately had no bearing on the result, as the first leg petered out to a goalless draw, leaving the tie evenly poised ahead of the return fixture at Villa Park next Thursday. Unai Emery’s troops are now unbeaten in six European outings, while the Dutch side have now gone 10 competitive home matches without defeat.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jorrel Hato (Ajax)
Read all the match stats here.
