5th November, 2019
Chelsea battled to hold 9-man Ajax to 4-4 draw at Stanford Bridge in a champions league game on Tuesday.
Chelsea were 4-1 down until they pulled a goal back before two quick red cards for Ajax players saw them crawling back into the game.
Ajax were in calm control and looked on course for victory when Donny van de Beek gave them a three-goal advantage 10 minutes after the break – but in a chaotic closing period Chelsea completed a remarkable recovery as the visitors lost their discipline.
Tammy Abraham’s own goal gave Ajax an early lead and even though Chelsea were quickly on terms through Jorginho’s penalty, they were in trouble at half-time after Quincy Promes headed in a brilliant cross from Hakim Ziyech, who then saw his free-kick inadvertently deflected in by keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Van de Beek looked to have settled matters but Cesar Azpilicueta pulled one back for Chelsea, before Ajax lost Daley Blind and Joel Veltman within a minute to second yellow cards, with the dismissals followed by a penalty which Jorginho scored again to set up a frantic finale.
Reece James then pulled Chelsea level and Azpilicueta thought he had scored the winner, only for the video assistant referee to intervene and detect a handball by Abraham.
BBC reports that both sides had chances in the closing moments but in the end settled for a draw which leaves them level on seven points, along with Valencia who beat Lille 4-1 in this extremely tight Group H.