When referee Stieler blew the final whistle, Yang Yang and Xabi Alonso stood on the sideline, their faces filled with helplessness, because the final score had not continued the optimism of the first half.
Two–two. Standard Liège had scored twice in the second half.
Prudhomme made a substitution, replacing target man Sa with Renaud Emond. Just one minute later, winger Casse seized an opportunity, created danger from the right half-space, and breached Ajax's goal.
There had been nothing particularly unusual about that goal. Yang Yang had promptly made substitutions, and Ajax had stabilized.
But in the final minute of stoppage time, Ndombele failed to intercept in midfield. Militão recklessly stepped up and lost his position, then, trying to make up for his mistake, fouled substitute left winger Moussa Djenepo inside the box. The result was a penalty, which Emond took himself and scored to equalize.
Two–two. Ajax had gifted their opponents a penalty at the very end and regretfully missed out on an away victory.
Standing in front of the away team's bench, Yang Yang shook his head helplessly.
He had originally been certain of victory, so he had not intended to take the field himself. He had never expected such a mistake to occur at the very end.
What could he say?
"Just as I said earlier, this was all down to our own problems." Xabi Alonso smiled bitterly.
Ndombele had failed to intercept in time and had not tracked back immediately. Militão had recklessly stepped up and lost his position, giving Moussa Djenepo an opening. The winger's speed and ability were indeed outstanding.
Militão had immediately chased back, but ended up committing a foul inside the box.
"Two–two. It's a pity, but it's still a decent result." Yang Yang was relatively satisfied with the result.
Ajax had