Jordan Henderson was far from happy with Ajax’s performance after they were ‘easily beaten’ by Villa in the Europa Conference League.
Unai Emery’s side were ruthless on Thursday night. Villa cruised to a 4-0 victory at Villa Park to send the side into the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League.
After a close first leg which ended 0-0 in Amsterdam, the Birmingham side completely blew Ajax away. Ollie Watkins opened the scoring in the first half, before Leon Bailey, Jhon Duran and Moussa Diaby settled the tie.
Further misery was piled onto Ajax when Sivert Mannsverk was sent off for two bookable offences just after the hour mark.
Current England international Jordan Henderson captained the Dutch side out but was unable to stop the slaughter. Reflecting on the match afterwards, the former Liverpool man was far from happy for many reasons.
Red card ‘harsh’ in Aston Villa vs Ajax
There were many talking points from the result. It was a dream match for many Villa fans. However, for Henderson, it was the last thing he wanted to see in his return to England.
Talking to TNT Sports after the game, the midfielder insisted that it wasn’t Ajax’s night after a heavy defeat.
Henderson said: “Tough game. It’s hard to stand here and put it into words straight after the game. We’ve been beaten quite easily in the end which is disappointing.
“I felt we were in the game at the end of the first half. We conceded a second goal which was poor on our behalf and then it’s always tough at that point. To go 10 men it’s very difficult to come back against a good side. Injuries and everything started to go wrong.
“If we’d kept it at 1-0 for longer we could have hurt them but we were well beaten in the end. Villa are a good side.
“I thought it [red card] was harsh but I won’t make that as an excuse. It was a difficult moment for us. That’s football. You have to deal with those things.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t our night.”
Honest assessment from Jordan Henderson
It was an obvious yellow card offence for Mannsverk. Duran would have been through on goal if it wasn’t for the shirt pull by the midfielder to take the attacker out of the game.
It was a silly thing for the Ajax player to do on a card and it was essentially the final nail in the coffin.
To say that the red card was ‘harsh’ is a little odd considering the shirt pull was clear and the opportunity that was presented to Duran if he hadn’t been taken down.
However, Henderson was right in stating that Ajax were well beaten. While it wasn’t their night, it was the perfect one for Villa which will give them renewed confidence returning to the Premier League.
