The crisis plaguing Dutch football powerhouse Ajax took a further turn for the worse as arch-rivals Feyenoord inflicted a resounding 4-0 defeat in a match that had been rescheduled due to crowd violence.
Feyenoord's striker, Santiago Gimenez, completed a remarkable hat-trick just four minutes after the game resumed, a continuation of the ill-fated match on Sunday that was abandoned when Ajax fans disrupted play with Feyenoord leading 3-0.
In reality, nearly three days had passed between Gimenez's second and third goals, as he sealed his hat-trick by capitalising on a goalmouth scramble in front of an empty Johan Cruyff arena, devoid of fans.
The defeat compounds Ajax's ongoing crisis as the four-time European champions endure their worst start to a Dutch top-flight season since 1964/5, a time when the legendary Johan Cruyff was just beginning his journey in the youth team.
With five points from five games, Ajax finds itself in unfamiliar territory, languishing in 14th place in the Eredivisie, a mere two points above the relegation zone and a substantial 10 points adrift of runaway leaders PSV Eindhoven.
Ajax's woes extend beyond the pitch as the club grapples with off-field troubles. Just hours after the stadium descended into chaos with violent clashes between home fans and mounted riot police, the club made the decision to terminate the contract of director of football Sven Mislintat.
The violent scenes led to tear gas being deployed to disperse the unruly crowd, with some fans even smashing through the stadium's glass doors. Players and officials were confined to their dressing rooms for their safety.
While Mislintat was already under external investigation for a potential conflict of interest related to the last-minute summer transfer of Croatian international defender Borna Sosa from VfB Stuttgart, a club where he had previously held the position of sporting director, the club maintained that his dismissal was unrelated to the probe. Instead, the decision was attributed to "the lack of broad support within the organisation."
