Ajax secured a 1-2 victory against Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday afternoon.

Abdellah Ouazane broke the deadlock with a wonderful goal before Jens Toornstra found an equaliser for Rogier Meijer's side. Just minutes later, however, Tolu Arokodare restored Ajax's lead with a composed finish to give Ajax the lead at the break.

Sparta put Ajax under serious pressure in the second half, but Marc ter Stegen pulled off a few very important saves, and Ajax also defended the box very well.

Thilo Kehrer and Dies Janse started together in central defence, and both produced very good performances, helping Ajax hold onto their lead in the second half. Youri Baas started at left-back. Aaron Bouwman has often started when fit this season, but the youngster was rested on Sunday. Daley Blind also returned to action, coming on for the final few minutes after over two months on the sidelines due to injury.

In Michel Sanchez's post-match press conference on Sunday after the game against Sparta, the Spanish head coach revealed his reasoning for starting Kehrer and Janse in central defence.

"We are lucky because we have five central defenders with different profiles," Michel explained.

"In my view, all five of them will be important for the team. Today, we wanted to prevent them from playing the ball to their striker by marking tightly. Dies and Thilo did that well. In duels, they are our best defenders."

Michel also spoke about Baas, Blind and Bouwman, saying that the 19-year-old is Ajax's most complete central defender.

"Youri has a different profile, and so does Daley. In my opinion, Aaron is the most complete player, but he needs to keep improving. After Thursday's match, I wanted to give him a rest. The central defenders did well today against a very good striker."

Kehrer is proving to be a really good signing for Ajax. He isn't as good as Bouwman at breaking lines, but he is still fairly comfortable on the ball and has a decent passing range. He is particularly strong defensively. He is strong in duels and wins many headers. He is experienced and provides Michel with a very reliable understudy for Aaron Bouwman.

Kehrer's versatility is also very valuable. Michel has used Kehrer as a right-back on a few occasions this season, and it may be a role that the Spanish head coach decides to use him in more often.

The deal agreed between Ajax and Monaco for Kehrer was a season-long loan, and the clubs did not include a buy option in the deal for the German defender. However, if he continues to perform well throughout the season, Jordi Cruijff may well consider signing him on a permanent deal next summer.

Bouwman should be Ajax's first-choice right-sided centre-back. He has weaknesses defensively, but on the ball, he is simply fantastic. However, in games where Ajax have less control and have to sit deeper and defend the penalty box well, as was the case against Sparta in the second half, Kehrer is probably more suited to those kinds of games.