Arokodare Runs the Show as Ajax Hammer 10-Man Midtjylland 6–1 in Denmark

For 43 minutes in Herning, this looked like a proper contest. Then Kjell Wätjen picked up his second yellow card, Midtjylland went down to 10 men, and Ajax turned a tight European night into a rout. Tolu Arokodare was the man who made the difference. The Nigerian striker, on loan at Ajax from Wolverhampton Wanderers, opened the scoring after nine minutes with a header from Oscar Gloukh's corner, and by the time he was substituted in the 70th minute he had two goals and an assist to his name and the man-of-the-match award in his pocket. It was the kind of complete centre-forward performance that explains why Ajax brought him in: strong in the air, sharp in the box, and unselfish when a teammate was better placed. Midtjylland had answered Arokodare's opener in style. Friday Etim, another Nigerian international, produced a moment of real quality in the 28th minute, driving past Thilo Kehrer and rounding goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen before rolling the ball into an empty net. At 1–1 at half-time, the Danish side could still believe. But Wätjen's dismissal just before the break changed everything, and Ajax came out for the second half knowing the space would be there. Arokodare needed only seven minutes of the second half to restore the lead, finishing from Abdellah Ouazane's pass, and seven minutes after that he turned provider, setting up Owen Wijndal for 3–1. From there the floodgates opened. Davy Klaassen made it four in the 67th minute, Gloukh added a fifth in the 74th, and Marcos Leonardo — the man who had replaced Arokodare — headed in the sixth in the 82nd minute. The scoreline flattered nobody; Ajax were ruthless once they had the extra man, and Midtjylland simply could not live with the movement and the tempo. For Arokodare, though, the night was about more than the numbers. Two goals and an assist in a European away win is the sort of statement that travels, and it came against a side that had started the game believing it could take something from the champions of the Netherlands. Flashscore named him man of the match, and on this evidence it was not a close call. Ajax move on in the Conference League with momentum and a striker in form. Midtjylland, meanwhile, are left to wonder what might have been had Wätjen kept his discipline — and to count the cost of a second half in which a game that was level at the break ended 6–1.