Dušan Tadić admits Utrecht made Ajax pay for slow start | OneFootball

Ajax captain Dušan Tadić wants his team-mates to learn the lessons from Sunday’s surprise home defeat to Utrecht.

The hosts came into the game at the Johan Cruyff Arena unbeaten after the opening seven games of the Eredivisie season.

But that record disappeared after Django Warmerdam’s drive hit the net 13 minutes from time.

“It wasn’t good enough. We missed the necessary chances and then it will be a difficult game. Especially after the 0-1. We must learn from this,” Tadić said, per Voetbal International.

The Serbia international echoed his coach Erik ten Hag’s sentiments when admitting that the Amsterdam side didn’t start as well as they would have wanted.

“In the first half FC Utrecht was sharper in the duels, then we woke up,” the 32-year-old said.

“As a player you have to do everything you can to be 100%, with 90% it becomes more difficult.’

Ajax have torn teams to shreds in recent weeks, but Tadić noted that this result showed how hard his side have worked for those seemingly facile victories.

“If you win it’s easy, people think. The people in the stands may think so, but it’s not very easy,” he claimed.

Despite the loss Ajax still remain top of the table, one point clear of PSV and just two ahead of high-flying Utrecht.