Onana confident Ajax can reproduce fine display

ANDRE Onana believes Ajax can beat anyone if they reproduce the performance which saw them blow away Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final last night.

Bertrand Traore scored twice while Kasper Dolberg and Amin Younes added further goals for a vibrant home side in a pulsating 4-1 victory at Amsterdam Arena.

Mathieu Valbuena’s second-half strike gives Lyon hope heading into the second leg in France next Thursday but, if Ajax replicate this showing, they will be hard to resist.

Onana, who made a number of crucial saves to help keep the hosts in control of the tie, lavished praise on his team-mates but also urged a note of caution.

The Cameroon goalkeeper said: “The chance of reaching the final is 50/50. What we have to do is play like we did.

“It was a difficult game, we played very well, we did our best and we are happy right now. Lyon have good players but what I know is if we play like we did we can beat anyone.

“We played very well. If we keep playing like this, we can beat anyone 4-1 or even more.

“We worked together, we defended together, we attacked together. It was the key. We are so happy right now.”

Ajax took the lead on 25 minutes when Traore got the faintest of touches to head the ball in from eight yards from Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick.

That lead was doubled on 34 minutes when 19-year-old Dolberg darted between a static Lyon defence from Traore’s header to lash home his fifth Europa League goal of the season.

Younes added a third four minutes after the break.

Lyon’s Valbuena pulled a goal back on 66 minutes.

But Traore’s second of the evening, and Ajax’s fourth, came when the 21-year-old Burkina Faso international converted in the 71st minute.