Tolu Arokodare came off the bench to score and add a second as Ajax beat Atalanta 2-0 in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday night. The Nigerian replaced Marcos Leonardo in the 66th minute, opened the scoring in the 87th minute and set up Abdellah Ouazane’s header.
Bold Sports reckons the opener is his 100th career goal.
Twenty-four minutes that changed the night
For an hour at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, Marco Carnesecchi looked unbeatable. Goal reports that the “Atalanta” goalkeeper made four saves before the break. Lucas Rosa hit the post on six minutes. Jorthy Mokio had a goal ruled out for offside. It was 0-0 at the break.
His first chance went badly. Around the 77th minute, he caught his foot while taking a shot and passed the ball.
Then the leap.
Ten minutes later he made no mistake. Youri Baas, flanked at centre-back, hit a long ball forward, Arokodare won his duel with Relja Obric, ran and beat Carnesecchi one-on-one, which ended Goal, AT5 and Voetbal International all in the 87th minute. Deep into overtime, he won another long ball and played Ouazand. The winger went past his mark and fired a shot under the crossbar. Complete Sports puts this goal in the 93rd minute.
“I looked at the clock, it was the last moment of the game,” Ouazane told Ziggo Sport.
Ajax needed this. Michel Sanchez’s side lost 2-1 at Hajduk Split in their opening match, so defeating Maurizio Sarri’s Atalanta brought their first win and first three points of the league stage. Bold Sports reports that the result moved Ajax up to 13th place.
“I see the players growing,” Míchel told NOS. With so many new signings, building a team is a process of falling down and getting back up.
A loan with repayment
Arokodare only arrived in Amsterdam at the end of July, on loan from Wolves for the 2026-27 season, bought for £17m, according to beIN Sports, and nobody knew what Ajax were getting. He had a difficult year at Molineux, scoring six goals in 38 games after Wolves paid Genk £24m.
Thursday’s goal was his eighth of the season with three assists in 13 games, according to Bold Sports calculations. FotMob also has a goal at the NEC on October 10. Again, he started on the bench. Not anymore, maybe. Voetbalprimeur reports that Dutch morning papers praised him and criticized Leonardo.
What it means for Nigeria
Timing is important. In September’s AFCON qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau, he got 22 and 21 minutes, according to FotMob. Both off the bench. Eric Chelle has yet to announce his squad for the two qualifiers against Tanzania in November. Afrik-Foot have listed Arokodare among the centre-forwards alongside Victor Osimhen, Akor Adams, George Ilenihena and Kelechi Iheanacho. A goal and an assist in 27 minutes in Europe is a strong proof. Chelle will have noticed.
Arokodare’s career numbers are on our Tolu Arokodare stats page, and Osimhe’s European form is in our report on Galatasaray’s 4-2 win over Lille. Up next: away to Sparta on Sunday.
This article was last revised and updated 18 seconds ago