Ajax’s Sebastien Haller on Wednesday scored for both teams as SL Benfica came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 clash.
The prolific Ivory Coast striker’s 11 goals for Ajax in his first seven Champions League matches are the highest tally ever by a debutant in Europe’s top club competition, but Ajax could not secure a seventh straight Champions League victory of the season.
Captain Dusan Tadic put Ajax ahead in the 18th minute, placing a volley past Odysseas Vlachodimos in the Benfica goal after a cross from the right by Noussair Mazraoui, who had started the move by winning the ball on right from Alejandro Grimaldo.
Photo: AFP
Haller deflected a hard, low cross by former Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen into his own net to bring the scores level in the 26th minute, but made amends just three minutes later when he tapped home a rebound to continue his scoring streak.
Haller told Dutch broadcaster RTL 7 that he blamed himself for the own-goal and was glad to have made amends quickly.
“You need to be there at the good moment and this is what I’m training to do,” he said.
He could have given Ajax a comfortable two-goal cushion shortly before halftime, but steered the ball wide from close range after Edson Alvarez hit the post.
Ajax coach Erik ten Hag lamented his team’s failure to capitalize on chances that could have put the match out of Benfica’s reach.
“We let it slip unnecessarily. We didn’t convert chances,” he said.
The Amsterdam club struggled in Lisbon as Benfica threatened throughout the second half with their quick breaks.
A deflected shot by Everton went wide in the 55th minute and Darwin Nunez just failed to get on the end of a cross by Rafa Silva five minutes later.
It was a rare failure by Nunez, who has scored 23 times across all competitions this season.
The pressure finally paid off when Remko Pasveer saved a powerful shot by Goncalo Ramos and substitute Roman Yaremchuk beat Steven Berghuis to the ball to head home Benfica’s second equalizer of the night in the 72nd minute.
“We had the better chances in the second half. In the end, the game could have gone either way,” Vertonghen said.
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