Tolu Arokodare Shines with Goal and Assist in Ajax Victory

Tolu Arokodare needed just a few minutes to turn a good Ajax night into an emphatic one – and his manager noticed.

Thrown on in the 72nd minute of the UEFA Europa Conference League playoff against Sion, the Nigeria international replaced Marcos Leonardo with Ajax holding the upper hand but still working. The game was open, tense, and not quite killed off.

That changed almost instantly.

Two minutes after stepping onto the pitch, Arokodare struck. His goal, Ajax’s third in a 4-2 victory, gave the visitors breathing space in a keenly contested tie and shifted the mood from anxious to assured. He wasn’t done.

As Sion pushed and gaps began to appear, Arokodare showed the other side of his game. Three minutes from time, he slipped in Davy Klaassen, who finished for Ajax’s fourth. One goal, one assist, all in a late cameo that underlined exactly why he had been sent on.

On the touchline, Míchel Sánchez liked what he saw.

“Tolu brought a lot of energy when he came on. He works hard, he scores and he helps us,” the Ajax manager told Ajax Life, as quoted by Goal. “He has a good character. I think he is a nice boy. I hope he keeps helping us in this way.”

Impact, personality, end product – in a crowded attacking department at Ajax, Arokodare has just made his case in the most direct way possible.