Brighton and Hove Albion managed their first ever European victory as they defeated Ajax by two goals to nil at the AMEX Stadium in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening.
The Seagulls were dominant throughout the 90 minutes and eventually enjoyed a 2-0 victory with goals either side of the international break via Joao Pedro and then Ansu Fati.
After an excellent pass in the build-up by Brighton captain Lewis Dunk, Kaoru Mitoma floated into the Ajax boss before striking low at goal, saved by Diant Ramaj. The ball bounced out to Brazilian striker Joao Pedro, who finished to score his fourth UEFA Europa League goal of the season in three matches.
The hosts continued their dominance in the second-half when Ivory Coast winger, Simon Adingra, drifted inside before jabbing an impressive ball through to Ansu Fati with the loanee from Barcelona finishing expertly across goal and into the bottom corner.
Brighton have started their first ever European campaign with four points collected in their opening three matches. They suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to AEK Athens in their opening match before fighting back from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw at Stade Velodrome against Olympique de Marseille.
Ajax, who sacked Maurice Steijn at the start of the week and were under interim coach Hedwiges Maduro for the evening, have managed just one win in their opening ten matches across all competitions with just two points collected in their opening three UEFA Europa League group stage matches.
They are currently sitting second from bottom in the Dutch Eredivisie after a historically slow and poor start to the 2023/24 campaign for the Amsterdam club.
Their next outing is ‘De Topper’ as they face fierce rivals PSV in Eindhoven on Sunday, whilst Brighton face Fulham in a few days’ time.
