Jordan Henderson made Ajax captain but suffers late blow in fourth game since Al-Ettifaq exit

Former Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson was handed the captain's armband at Ajax – but his joy was short-lived as a late goal denied them victory.

The 33-year old returned to Europe last month after a six-month stint in Saudi Arabia under his old Anfield teammate Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq, and donned the captain's in just his fourth game for the Amsterdam giants as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home on Sunday. Ajax were leading 2-1 against NEC Nijmegen with goals from ex-Manchester City player Carlos Borges and Brian Brobbey - who is rumoured to be on Manchester United's radar - but the away team managed to level the score in added time.

Manager John van't Schip chose Henderson as captain due to his leadership skills both on and off the pitch. However, since the 81-time England cap joined, Ajax have continued to struggle this season and are now fifth in the Eredivisie table after missing out on the title last season.

After a promising start to 2024 with three wins, Van't Schip's team haven't tasted victory in four matches following Sunday's result. Dutch striker Brobbey scored the opening goal for Ajax seven minutes into the game before an own goal from 17 year old Jorrel Hato evened things up.

Henderson and his team were leading when Borges, the Portuguese winger, netted what seemed to be the winning goal with just 11 minutes left. However, Roberto Gonzalez had a different plan, scoring a last-minute equaliser in the 95th minute to save the day for the visitors.

Ajax's disappointing result comes after an exciting 2-2 draw in the Europa Conference League on Thursday. Henderson's team managed to score two late goals to secure a draw against Bodo/Glimt from Norway. Despite injuring himself near the end of the match