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2nd half resurgence assures Ajax of badly-needed win

"Tim de Cler's goal was very, very important", said Co Adriaanse after Ajax had beaten FC Twente (1-3). He was right.

It came in the 45th minute, seconds before the half-time break. Ajax already conceded an early De Witte goal (6) and were playing horribly, as bad as in the home game against Vitesse, or even worse. The Enschede team was not playing particularly well either, but should have scored at least a second, and maybe a third: Houwing missed two excellent chances in the first half.

In the meantime, Vitesse had taken the lead against Fortuna, and RKC were 0-2 up in Groningen. FC Utrecht scored the first goal in De Kuip, against Feyenoord. For a while, Ajax were 7th (!) on the ranking, and there seemed to be no hope of improvement. Ajax were in misery.

But all of a sudden the turning point was there. Tim de Cler, heavily criticized after the Feyenoord and Vitesse games scored no less than five goals over his flank, put his left foot against a flicked-on cross, from just outside the penalty area. A desperate attempt, but the ball slammed home via the cross bar: 1-1 (45). A goal out of nowhere. The 1-1 half time score was more than Ajax deserved.

At the outset, Adriaanse had decided to leave Wamberto out of the team, as well as Richard Witschge, who was not even on the bench. "Richard is not a substitute kind of guy," explained Adriaanse, "but it has nothing to do with a conflict." Therefore, the team played in a remarkable 4-4-2 system, with Shota Arveladze and Pius Ikedia in the front line. It didn't work. The only promising action came from teh speedy fan-favorite Ikedia, who had a few good runs on the right side.

Ajax' resurgence in the second half was remarkable. After the break, Ajax returned to the good old 4-3-3 system, with Nikos Machlas instead of one of the defenders (Chivu) and - fifteen minutes later - Andy van der Meyde as a real right winger. It had the desired effect. The performance of Van der Meyde, heavily criticized after a few particularly bad weeks, was excellent, while Nikos Machlas played notably better than Arveladze on the day.

It was the Greek who launched Tomas Galásek with a subtle pass through the middle. The Ajax captain's left footed shot was well-placed: 1-2 (73). Machlas wrapped it up six minutes later, by scoring a real center-forward's goal, staying cool and composed while face-to-face with goalkeeper Boschker (79), slipping his shot between the keeper's legs for a memorable goal. The most heavily criticized players did it for Ajax.

While Ajax proceeded to miss a handful of chances to score more goals, the party had already begun in the section of Ajax fans, who wished Twente the best of luck on Thursday, in the Amstel Cup final against PSV.

What a weird league contest it is, down to the very last day. Five Feyenoord defeats were not enough for Ajax to jump to second. But on the other hand, two crucial home defeats were not enough to terminate Ajax' Champions League dream. The last game of the season will bring AZ Alkmaar to Amsterdam. They are 13th and safe, and therefore playing for nothing in particular. The current number three, Roda JC, are due in Waalwijk, where RKC are still battling for UEFA Cup qualification. RKC is still unbeaten at home.

If Roda draw or lose, and if Ajax win, the Amsterdammers jump to third after all, winning the right to play Champions League qualifiers. If they lose, the chance is equally realistic for Ajax to drop to sixth or seventh, and not qualify for a European tournament at all.

The Ajax fans attending Ajax vs AZ on Sunday [televised in U.S.] will need a little radio to stay informed on Ajax' exact situation. For one day, they'll be supporters of RKC as well, hoping that the blue and yellow team from Waalwijk will maintain its unbeaten home record. (MP)

GOALS

• 06'  1-0  Chris de Witte
• 45'  1-1  Tim de Cler
• 73'  1-2  Tomas Galásek
• 79'  1-3  Nikos Machlas

Referee: Luinge
Yellow cards: Van de Paar, Heubach (FC Twente), De Cler, Arveladze (Ajax)
Attendance: 13,500

Ajax line-up: Grim; O'Brien, Chivu (46. Machlas), Pasanen, Yakubu, De Cler; Galásek, Knopper (60. Van der Meyde), Van der Vaart; Ikedia (87. Van der Gun), Arveladze.

FC Twente line up: Boschker; Hulshoff, Grujic, Karnebeek (71. El Brazi), Polak; Van der Leegte (56. Van de Paar), Houwing, Van der Laan; Cairo (46. Heubach), Vennegoor of Hesselink, De Witte.