Joao Pedro and Ansu Fati ease Brighton to historic Europa League win over Ajax

Brighton eased to a 2-0 win against Ajax at the Amex Stadium (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Brighton enjoyed a comprehensive first victory in Europe as a goal in either half from Joao Pedro and Ansu Fati eased them to a 2-0 win against Ajax at the Amex Stadium.

It took until the final minutes of a first half that Brighton had dominated for the breakthrough to arrive, Pedro tapping home on the rebound, as Ajax – second-bottom of the Eredivisie – did little more than look to preserve parity in the Europa League clash.

The Dutch side have endured their worst start to a league season and, after sacking manager Maurice Steijn on Monday, they went down with barely a whimper as Fati’s goal early in the second half showed the gulf between Roberto De Zerbi’s team and the four-time European champions.

It was a first half that Brighton controlled but were for the most part frustrated by an organised, obdurate Ajax. Pedro wanted a penalty for a shove in the back inside of three minutes, waved away by the referee with barely a glance, before Brighton’s top scorer on their European campaign tucked the only real chance of the opening exchanges wide of the near post from Karou Mitoma’s cut-back.

Pedro appealed again for a spot-kick, this time with more gusto, when he appeared to be bundled to the ground by Jorrel Hato. The defender was adjudged narrowly to have reached Mitoma’s through-ball ahead of the Brighton striker as the Amex howled for a penalty.

The hosts’ central-defensive pair spent much of the first half 10 yards inside the Ajax half. The plan to lure out the visitors and exploit the resulting space was resisted by caretaker boss Hedwiges Maduro’s team, who seemed content to sacrifice attacking ambition for the sake of clogging the gaps