John Heitinga believes Kenneth Taylor was unlucky to be sent-off in Ajax’s 5-1 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Taylor was initially shown a yellow card by referee Felix Zwayer for a reckless tackle on Blues attacking midfielder Facundo Buonanotte.
However, following a swift review using the pitchside monitor, Zwayer changed the colour of the card from yellow to red which meant the Ajax captain’s night was over after just 17 minutes.
Chelsea duly took advantage of the extra-man, scoring four times in an eventful first-half before Tyrique George capped off a “special night” with his first Champions League goal early in the second half.
Heitinga, though, insists he saw improvements from his side regardless of the scoreline as he was left to rue the early red card.
"The game plan worked and I think it was hard for them to break the lines. We even had one offensive transition with Mika Godts. It was stable until we were a bit unlucky to receive the red card,” the Dutchman told UEFA.
"I think they scored two goals from the penalty spot, then two goals were deflected. I cannot blame the players, they were working really hard. We had to make a sub, as we wanted to play with a double pivot and still keep the speed in our wingers and a target man in Wout Weghorst.
Kenneth Taylor becomes the first Ajax player to be sent off this season 🟥@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/XgG030Uiun
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 22, 2025
"We came back into the game, it was 2-1. Then you have to hope that you can bring it into half-time and then go again, but we conceded the fifth goal. The only thing that I have say to the players is that I have a lot of respect for the willingness that they showed on the pitch, working for each other.
"We need to be more stable. It's still going up and down, which is a little bit where the club is at the moment. We're working really hard every day and you can see the improvement.
“It was only 15 minutes but you could see the improvements already there. Now we have to take the good things into our next match and the things we can do better, we have to learn from that."
Heitinga, who has now gone six games without a win across all competitions as Ajax boss, did concede that his side came up against one of the best teams in Europe.
“This is one of the better teams, not only in the Premier League but I think also in the Champions League,” he added. “It was a tough one for us to take, but it is how it is."
