After Wout Weghorst's fruitful return to action in the away game at Willem II a week ago, Brian Brobbey got the nod over the Dutch World Cup hero in the point of attack. Steven Berghuis got the start on the right wing over Bertrand Traore, and Braga loanee Matheus retained his spot between the sticks as Remko Pasveer returned to the matchday squad after recovering from a groin injury.
Fourth-placed FC Utrecht opened the match with three former Ajax players in the starting XI, as Nick Viergever, Mike van der Hoorn, and Sebastien Haller all got to face their former team on a sunny Easter Sunday in Utrecht.
It only took two minutes for Ajax to create the first big chances of the game. A smoothly flowing attack saw FC Utrecht defender Mike van der Hoorn hit his own following a ball from Jorrel Hato, after which Brian Brobbey hit the crossbar in the rebound.
Ajax showed promise going forward and were in control, but it were the home side who took the lead after 29 minutes via Sebastien Haller, who surprised Matheus by somewhat luckily ricocheting the ball towards goal and refused to celebrate scoring against his former team.
The first-placed visitors seemingly got caught off-guard by Haller's opener, as none of the creativity from the opening 30 minutes could be seen following the somewhat surprising 1-0.
A sloppy opening phase of the second half abruptly ended when Miguel Rodriguez saw his attempt fly over Matheus, thanks to a heavy touch from Jorrel Hato, and seemingly cross the goal line when Ahmetcan Kaplan cleared it. As play stopped a few seconds later, referee Bas Nijhuis still confirmed the ball had crossed the line and Utrecht were up 2-0.
The Spaniard set the stadium on fire yet again just ten minutes later after Hato got beaten and Rodriguez curled the ball into the far corner for his first Eredivisie brace.
American international Paxten Aaronson put the cherry on top for the home side with an effort from distance, surprising Matheus and handing Ajax their heaviest league defeat in over a year.
By securing their biggest win over Ajax in club history, FC Utrecht have officially left their rivals behind in the battle for the fourth spot, taking a 9-point lead over FC Twente with just four games remaining.
Meanwhile, Ajax left their 9-point lead as it was with their first league loss since December 8th and head into the home straight, which contains three home games in the final four games of the season. Rivals PSV resume their Eredivisie campaign next Thursday by visiting fifth-placed FC Twente.