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SOCCER

Ajax draws 2-2 with Utrecht, stays atop Eredivisie

AP

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) β€” Ajax scored a hotly contested last-minute penalty Sunday to draw 2-2 with FC Utrecht, leaving it ahead of PSV Eindhoven at the top of the Eredivisie on goal difference.

Captain Luuk de Jong scored twice Saturday night as defending champion PSV beat Roda JC 3-0 in Kerkrade to go top by one point until Ajax's match.

At the Amsterdam Arena, Nacer Barazite put Utrecht ahead in the 56th minute and Patrick Joosten doubled the lead with just six minutes to play.

Ajax captain Davy Klaassen pulled back a goal less than two minutes later with a long-range volley and Poland striker Arek Milik calmly stroked a penalty into the bottom corner in the 89th to secure a valuable point for Frank de Boer's team.

The equalizer was surrounded by controversy as Utrecht captain Willem Janssen appeared to play the ball before coming into contact with Milik in a sliding tackle. Referee Danny Makkelie told national broadcaster NOS that he would not have given the penalty if he had been able to see the challenge from another angle.

Even De Boer conceded that the penalty was lucky.

"I probably would not have given it," he said. "But the result is right."

Utrecht coach Erik ten Haag disagreed with De Boer about the result.

"We should have left here with a 2-1 victory," he said.

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