Hamburg sink Ajax in friendly

Bundesliga team Hamburg defeated Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam 4-2 in a friendly at Imtech Arena in Germany on Saturday.

With both the Bundesliga and Eredivisie on the verge of returning from their winter breaks, the two sides took the opportunity to try and maintain some form before returning to competitive action.

The home side got off to the best possible start, taking the lead after just two minutes.

Guy Demel headed a corner towards goal and Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy was on hand to turn the ball home from the goal-line.

And Hamburg doubled their advantage when Ze Roberto beat the Ajax offside trap before setting up van Nistelrooy for his second.

David Jarolim made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time when he played a nice one-two with van Nistelrooy, before sliding the ball past Jeroen Verhoeven in the Ajax goal.

Ajax pulled a goal back on the hour-mark when Luis Suarez collected a ball forward from Daley Blind before finishing well.

Suarez doubled his tally just a minute later, finding the far corner via the post to make it 3-2, but Hamburg made the game safe with 15 minutes remaining.

Van Nistelrooy found himself clear of the Ajax defence and the Dutchman made no mistake to complete his hat-trick.

Hamburg’s next Bundesliga match is a trip to Schalke on January 15, while Ajax return to Eredivisie action with a home clash against Feyenoord on January 19.