De Jong raved about Simons after a big win over Ajax: ‘Great how he plays football’ | Football

Apr 23, 2023 at 5:23 PMUpdate: 7 minutes ago

PSV captain Luuk de Jong is full of praise for Xavi Simons’ contribution to the 3-0 win against Ajax in the Eredivisie on Sunday. De Jong believes that his teammate has unique qualities.

“Xavi again had some great moves,” De Jong told ESPN afterwards. “He also has that ‘extensor leg’. He quickly taps the ball away from the opponent and then slouches past it. Great how that boy plays football. He is doing great.”

De Jong opened the score early by heading in a cross from Johan Bakayoko. Simons doubled the lead from 11 meters after the break, after he himself was knocked out by Ajax goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli. De Jong made it 3-0 fifteen minutes before the end after a good individual action by Simons.

“This is wonderful”, De Jong continued. “Of course they created some chances. For example, we get away well with that ball on Kenneth Taylor’s post. But we were compact and were good at switching.”

“We wanted to put them under full pressure and we often succeeded,” said the attacker. “I think we were the stronger in general. If you win 3-0, you can also be satisfied.”

Stand at the top of the Eredivisie

1. Feyenoord 30-73 (+45) 2. PSV 30-65 (+46) 3. Ajax 30-62 (+47) 4. AZ 29-57 (+24) 5. Sparta Rotterdam 30-53 (+17) )
Foto: Getty Images

“The cup final is a completely different game”

With the victory, PSV takes over the second place in the Eredivisie from Ajax. The two teams will face each other in the cup final next week. De Jong does not think that PSV’s victory says anything about the duel in De Kuip.

“That is a completely different game,” said the PSV striker. “Of course this is nice and gives a boost. Next week we have to put the same on the mat as with this match.”

PSV is now three points clear of Ajax, which has dropped to third place. Feyenoord won 3-1 against FC Utrecht later in the day and is eight points ahead of PSV.

Foto: Pro Shots

View the results, the position and the program in the Eredivisie

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