Erik ten Hag hailed Ajax after the Eredivisie giants made it three wins from three games in the Champions League thanks to a stunning 4-0 rout of Borussia Dortmund.
Ajax produced a merciless performance in Amsterdam, where Dusan Tadic's free-kick deflected off Marco Reus to set the tone before Daley Blind, Antony and Sebastien Haller also scored in Tuesday's rout.
With the Dortmund demolition, Ajax have now won their opening three Champions League matches in a season for the first time since 1995-96, when they went on to reach the final, losing to Juventus on penalties.
Ajax have also scored 11 goals through three matchdays, their most at this stage of a European Cup/Champions League campaign since scoring 26 times in their first three games in the 1979-80 season.
"Of course I'm incredibly proud of my team," Ajax head coach Ten Hag told Amazon Prime. "We produced a fantastic performance and played some incredible football.
"When two teams with this philosophy want to attack like that then it becomes an open shoot-out, which we won tonight."
Ajax condemned Dortmund to their heaviest defeat in European competition since losing 4-0 to Sochaux in the UEFA Cup in November 2003, while it was the Bundesliga side's heaviest ever defeat in the European Cup/Champions League.
Ten Hag added: "Being good in possession was one of our first priorities tonight. My players were exceptional in that regard and created a lot of chances.
"What pleased me most though was the way we pressed. I'm happy that we won and that we won with fantastic football, but there are three games to go."
Haller, meanwhile, became the first African player to score in their first three Champions League appearances since Didier Drogba in 2003 – the Ivorian has six goals and two assists in his three games so far for Ajax.
He also equalled the Ajax record for scoring in consecutive Champions League matches, following in the footsteps of Patrick Kluivert (1995), Jari Litmanen (1996) and team-mate Tadic (2018).
As for man-of-the-match Blind, he scored his first goal in the Champions League since his strike for Manchester United against Benfica in October 2017.
It was his first for Ajax in the competition and came 29 years and 347 days since his father Danny Blind scored his last goal in UEFA European competition for Ajax, against FC Rot-Weiss Erfurt in the UEFA Cup in November 1991.
"We were very good on the ball in the first half," Ajax attacker Steven Berghuis told RTL 7. "We created so many chances, we combined well, and had depth in our game.
"We made sure not to lose the ball quickly, because then you play into their hands. Instead we kept the ball for long periods, and that weakens them."
Bruno Fernandes scores stunner as Man Utd beat Burnley to end losing run
Bruno Fernandes’ stunning volley secured absentee-hit Manchester United a much-needed victory as Burnley’s wait for a Premier League win continued.
Injuries and off-field issues have been compounded by poor performances in some tough fixtures, with the Red Devils losing four of their opening six matches in all competitions for the first time since 1986.
United ended a run of three successive defeats at Vincent Kompany’s Burnley, where Erik ten Hag’s team were not entirely convincing but ran out 1-0 victors thanks to Fernandes’ moment of magic on Saturday night.
The Portugal midfielder showed exceptional composure and technique when providing a fitting finish to a brilliant pass from Jonny Evans, who was making his first start for the club since 2015.
The 35-year-old recently rejoined the club and thought he had scored shortly before Fernandes’ goal, only for the VAR to intervene in a first half that Burnley had held their own in.
Zeki Amdouni struck a post during the opening period and Kompany’s side threatened towards the end of the second half, but the Manchester City great was unable to celebrate a late equaliser.
Grant McCann believes Doncaster are heading in right direction after Gills scalp
Doncaster boss Grant McCann believes his side are only getting better after making it back-to-back wins with the 2-1 triumph over high-flying Gillingham.
Two excellent strikes from Ben Close, including an 87th-minute winner, saw Rovers collect their first home league triumph of the campaign, a week on from finally picking up a maiden victory at Forest Green.
And McCann feels his side are firmly heading in the right direction as they seek to make up ground on the promotion-chasing pack in the division.
“We had to be very good to win and I felt in the second half we were as good as we have been this season,” he said. “I thought we were really in control.
“We’re yet to have that full 90-minute performance. We’re still searching and that takes some doing, every manager will tell you that. Teams will always have a spell against you.
“I felt that Gillingham didn’t really have much of a spell against us and on a whole, I felt the second half was a real performance from us.
“I could feel the team taking on board the information we had given them, particularly in taking up the pockets of space to have that control of the game against a top, top team.”
Gillingham manager Neil Harris is still looking for his team to find the balance between defensive solidity and creativity after dropping points in South Yorkshire.
The Gills set the early pace in League Two with five 1-0 wins from their opening eight matches. But with Harris encouraging them to deliver more decisive scorelines, they have shown vulnerability in defence, which he is keen to see quickly banished.
“In the last couple of weeks we’ve been a lot more creative, we’ve had sparks, we’ve shown class and we want to continue that because if we do, we will wins games of football comfortably,” Harris said.
“We’ve won a lot of games so far 1-0 by being resilient. In the last couple we’ve not been as resilient as I would have liked but we’ve been really good with the ball. We’ve just got to find that balance between the two.
“The winning goal for Doncaster – he stuck it in the top corner but it’s poor from the restart, and it was from the first. To be a top team in League Two, we’ve got to be better than that from restarts.”
Despite his frustrations, Harris felt Gillingham should have won the game comfortably.
He said: “I’m baffled how we’ve not won the game. We’ve not won the game because we weren’t clinical enough. We should have been coming off (with) four or five goals but if you don’t take your chances, you don’t win games.”
Nigel Clough praises patience as Mansfield go third
Mansfield manager Nigel Clough praised his side’s patience as they moved up into third place with a 1-0 home win over Barrow.
Stags are the only EFL side unbeaten this season in all competitions but were made to sweat until Ollie Clarke drilled in the 72nd-minute winner.
A red card in the 84th minute Junior Tiensia then sealed the Bluebirds’ fate.
“We needed that win,” said Clough. “We are not quite as fluent as we were a few weeks ago, but you grind them out.
“With nine players out at the moment, that is probably a good reason why we are disjointed at times.
“But one good finish and you win the game – it was an important clean sheet.
“In a few weeks’ time no one will remember the game, just the three points which have put us back up to third in the league. And I think there are going to be quite a few games like that here where we are going to have to be patient.
“The crowd are going to have to be patient as well. We are not always going to be having 25 shots, as much as we’d like to.”
Barrow had the edge in the first half and Emile Acquah missed the target with their two best chances.
Rory Feely also sent a free header over from a 58th-minute corner.
But Mansfield took control and Will Swan saw his shot deflect over, skimming the top of the crossbar on the hour.
Calum Macdonald escaped with a yellow card for his challenge on 70 minutes before Clarke broke through with a low finish from 20 yards from Swan’s pull-back from the left.
Tiensia then saw red on 83 minutes for diving in on Aaron Lewis.
Barrow boss Pete Wild felt the game proved his side can live with the best and he felt Stags had the rub of the green on the red cards.
“I thought first half we played really well and it was a classic away-from-home performance,” he said.
“Second half as the home team they pinned us in and I didn’t think we got out enough and got on the front foot.
“It is fine margins and it didn’t go our way. But there were mitigating circumstances and I feel hard done by.
“The turning point for me was they should have had a red card before ours. He dived in and left the floor. Our lad’s was a red though, which didn’t help us.
“They won it with the one shot we haven’t blocked in the whole game.
“There was nothing between the two teams which shows we can live with the top teams at this level. But they have just edged it today.”
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