Tolu Arokodare continued his impressive start to life at Ajax, scoring a brace on his first start as the Dutch giants defeated Sion 5-3 on Thursday night to advance to the league phase of the UEFA Conference League with a 9-5 aggregate victory.
The Nigerian striker, who provided an assist on his debut before scoring and setting up another goal in the first-leg victory over Sion, took his tally to three goals and two assists since joining Ajax, underlining his immediate impact at the club.
Having secured a 4-2 victory in the first leg, Ajax entered the return fixture with a strong advantage and made a bright start in front of their home supporters. Youri Baas found the net just seconds into the game to extend their aggregate lead to 5-2.
Sion, however, refused to surrender and quickly mounted a response. Winsley Boteli pulled one back in the 19th minute before the Swiss youngster struck again in the 36th minute to put Sion 2-1 ahead on the night and reduce the aggregate deficit to 5-4.
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Ajax restored parity three minutes later when Davy Klaassen found the net in the 39th minute, before Arokodare struck on the stroke of halftime to restore the hosts’ lead and put Ajax 3-2 ahead on the night and 7-4 on aggregate.
The Dutch side effectively put the tie beyond Sion early in the second half, with Arokodare completing his brace in the 51st minute to make it 4-2 before Oliver Edvardsen added another goal four minutes later.
Boteli completed his hat-trick in stoppage time to reduce the deficit to 5-3 on the night, but the late effort was not enough to prevent Ajax from securing a comfortable aggregate victory and progressing to the Conference League league phase.
Ajax will now await the league phase draw to discover their opponents in the competition, while their attention will quickly turn back to domestic action with a trip to face Telstar in the Eredivisie on Sunday.
For Arokodare, his explosive start has strengthened his case for a regular starting role at Ajax. The Nigerian has already established himself as a major attacking threat and will be hoping to maintain his impressive goalscoring form as the season progresses.
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