Tolu Arokodare Shines in Ajax's 4-2 Victory Against Sion

Tolu Arokodare needed just a few minutes to turn a good Ajax night into a statement one.

Thrown on in the 72nd minute of the UEFA Europa Conference League playoff against Sion, the Nigeria international replaced Marcos Leonardo and immediately ripped into the game’s rhythm. Ajax were already in control, but the contest still felt edgy, open, vulnerable to a late twist.

Arokodare killed that idea.

Two minutes after stepping onto the pitch, he struck the visitors’ third goal, a finish that gave Ajax clear daylight in a 4-2 win and punctured Sion’s belief. The forward attacked the moment with the sharpness of a player desperate to prove he belongs in an Ajax shirt, timing his run and execution with the certainty of a regular, not a late substitute.

The pressure didn’t ease there. Arokodare kept running at tired legs, stretching the game, dragging defenders into places they didn’t want to go. His reward came again three minutes from time, this time as creator rather than finisher, when he teed up Davy Klaassen for Ajax’s fourth. One goal. One assist. Less than 20 minutes on the pitch. Maximum impact.

On the touchline, Míchel Sánchez saw exactly what he wanted from his striker.

“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.”

It was more than a polite pat on the back. In a squad stacked with attacking options and expectation, nights like this can shift a manager’s thinking. Arokodare didn’t just pad the scoreline; he changed the tone of the tie and underlined his value as a weapon off the bench — or perhaps something more.