HNK Hajduk Split stun Ajax to end 16-year European wait

Sixteen years. That is how long HNK Hajduk Split had gone without a win in the group or league stage of a major European competition. The wait ended at Stadion Poljud, against Ajax. Their 2–1 victory on the opening night of the Conference League's league stage was built on two Ajax errors, a cool finish from Marin Šotiček and a lead that survived a long smoke stoppage and a late scare against the crossbar.

This was not a home side overwhelming its guests. Ajax had 57% of the ball and edged the corner count five to four. Hajduk simply did more with less. Eight of their 14 shots hit the target, while Ajax managed four from 12. In a game decided by small moments, the Croatian side owned almost all of them.

The fixture carried history too. It was the first competitive meeting between the clubs since the 1994–95 Champions League quarter-finals. The result also keeps Hajduk unbeaten at home in all competitions this season, and it came straight after their derby win over Dinamo Zagreb.

Šotiček robs Klaassen and Bamba punishes Ajax

The opener arrived in the 37th minute, and it began with a turnover that would come to define Ajax's evening. Marin Šotiček dispossessed Davy Klaassen in midfield and drove towards the box. Hajduk broke at speed before Ajax could reorganise.

Šotiček's low pass found Bamba on the right side of the penalty area. Bamba fired a low right-footed shot into the bottom corner. It was his third goal in 11 appearances in all competitions this season, and it sent Hajduk in at half-time 1–0 up.

Klaassen, the man who lost the ball, would be one of the main figures in what followed.

Klaassen strikes back before Torrents' error hands Šotiček the winner

The Ajax captain answered eight minutes after the restart. Thilo Kehrer delivered a low cross from the right into the centre of the area. Klaassen controlled it and lashed a right-footed shot into the roof of the net.

It was a reminder of how dangerous Ajax remain in front of goal. Klaassen now has eight goals in 14 appearances in all competitions this season and has scored in three of his side's last six matches. Ajax have found the net in each of their last 17 games, scoring 48 times in that run.

The equaliser lasted two minutes. Jofre Torrents, the 19-year-old left-back making his first start for Ajax, played a too-short backpass deep in his own territory. Michele Šego seized on it and squared the ball across the box. Šotiček calmly converted with his right foot from roughly ten metres, beating Marc-André ter Stegen and a defender on the line.

Šotiček, provider of the first goal, now has three of his own in 11 appearances this season. He has also scored in three of Hajduk's last six matches. Ajax had every reason to be particularly unhappy: their captain had lost the ball for the first goal, and a young player making his first start had given it away for the second.

Klaassen did not look for excuses. "Dat moeten we onszelf kwalijk nemen," he said, putting the blame squarely on Ajax themselves.

Smoke halts play as Ajax hit the crossbar

The final stretch was played in strange circumstances. In the 77th minute, Austrian referee Christian-Petru Ciochirca stopped the match. He sent both teams to the dressing rooms for around 11 to 12 minutes after an impenetrable cloud of smoke from flares and pyrotechnics drifted over the pitch.

Ajax came closest to rescuing a point shortly after the restart. In the 79th minute an Ajax strike hit the crossbar, and VAR then reviewed a possible penalty against Hajduk. There was no penalty, and Poljud breathed again.

Hajduk collected two yellow cards to Ajax's none as they protected the lead. Still, the visitors never found the second equaliser their share of the ball suggested might come. The shot count tells the real story. Hajduk won this contest on accuracy, not control.

Ajax pressure mounts as Hajduk set the early pace

One round into the league stage, Hajduk sit 11th with three points. Ajax are 25th with none, and the defeat stretches their run to three matches without a win in all competitions.

That run matters because of the circumstances in which Ajax arrived in Split. They arrived in Split under intense scrutiny in the Netherlands after back-to-back domestic draws. The absences of Daley Blind, Steven Berghuis, Kasper Dolberg and Simon Adingra had forced heavy rotation. Torrents' first start, and the error that came with it, will only sharpen the questions about how Ajax cope without those senior players.

For Hajduk, the meaning goes beyond three points. A club that had not won at this stage of a major European competition since September 2010 has beaten one of the continent's most famous names, at home, by punishing every lapse. Ajax leave Poljud with numerous unanswered questions. Hajduk leave it believing they belong.