Ajax have had an abysmal start to this year's UEFA Champions League, losing to Inter (2-0), Olympique Marseille (4-0), and Chelsea (5-1) in the opening three games. Against Galatasaray, under-pressure boss John Heitinga switched his team up again, surprisingly starting Youri Regeer on the right wing.
Unsurprisingly, it were Galatasaray who opened the strongest with early chances for Victor Osimhen, who saw 41-year-old goalkeeper Remko Pasveer keep out a volley and a header from a subsequent corner.
It took Ajax 33 minutes to register a shot in Wednesday's home game - Jorthy Mokio launched an unimpressive effort at Ugurcan Cakir, who faced a bigger threat from Oscar Gloukh not much later. The midfielder's shot flew wide of the Turkish goal, however.
After giving away a crucial goal in last weekend's 1-1 draw against Heerenveen, Pasveer endured another precarious moment in the second half when the stopper failed to catch a shot from Roland Sallai and gave Victor Osimhen a chance to put Galatasaray in front. The Nigerian striker came from an offside position, however, sparing Pasveer another painful mistake.
The Nigerian ace's wait for a goal in Amsterdam didn't take much longer after Osimhen cleverly got in between Josip Sutalo and Remko Pasveer to head in a cross from Leroy Sane and give Galatasaray the lead.
It went from bad to worse for Ajax, who conceded a penalty when Youri Baas handled another Galatasaray cross. Osimhen stepped up and confidently buried the spot kick in the left corner.
Ajax were gifted a massive opportunity to get within one of Galatasaray when Cakir completely missed a deep ball from Oscar Gloukh, but Mika Godts wasn't able to unpack Galatasaray's generous present.
But instead of Ajax's first, Osimhen bagged his third after Champions League debutant Gerald Alders gave away a second penalty of the evening. The Nigerian hitman went the other way, leaving Pasveer and Ajax hopeless after 78 minutes.
Galatasaray came eerily close to adding a fourth in the dying seconds when Mauro Icardi, who'd replaced Osimhen, hit the post with a cross-body shot.
Pointless
Another loss brings Ajax's total in the UEFA Champions League to 4 in as many games, leaving them at the bottom of the table on goal difference (-12). Galatasaray, meanwhile, jumped up to ninth with their third European win of the season.
Ajax host fellow bottom feeders Benfica next, while Galatasaray will host Union Saint-Gilloise on November 25th.
Check out all the match and player statistics of Ajax-Galatasaray on Flashscore
