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Match Report: Substitutes 'steal' victory for Ajax in Tilburg

Not central forward Zlatan or 'shadow striker' Richard Knopper, but their respective replacements Nikos Machlas and Pius Ikedia made the difference today, in sunny Tilburg. In stoppage time, they took Willem II by surprise, twice in one minute's time, securing a 1-3 win for Ajax.

That score should already have been on the score-sheet at half-time. Willem II vs Ajax was an attractive game, a game of many scoring chances. Ajax played much better than the late winners might make you think, a major difference with last week's game at FC Den Bosch: the Amsterdammers seemed determined and - even more importantly - they visibly enjoyed playing.

Nevertheless, Ajax was 1-0 down at half-time. For only one moment, the Ajax defense (once again with a rock-solid heart consisting of Chivu and Bergdølmo) did not pay attention - and there was Willem II's excellent right winger, Jatto Ceesay, to push a Denny Landzaat cross under Fred Grim (42). At that point, Ajax should already have scored a goal or two: Cristian Chivu saw a perfectly executed free-kick hit the cross-bar, two Zlatan attempts went inches wide, and the Swede could also have been given a penalty after some twenty minutes.

Willem II was dangerous only one other time in the first half: Ceesay managed to pull the ball back to Mariano Bombarda as it seemed to go wide. Fred Grim, who returned to Ajax-1 after a long month of injury trouble, grabbled and - to his own surprise - saved Bombarda's close range tip-in just before the goal-line.

It was reassuring to see that Rafaël van der Vaart (suspended for one game) was hardly missed in midfield. John O'Brien played decently; Tomás Galásek, just like last week, maginificently. If one of Van der Vaart's qualities was missed, it was his scoring ability.

Willem II's defense allowed Ajax one chance after another, but Zlatan failed as a target-man, where he show beautiful things when dropping back to midfield. Richard Knopper and Wamberto didn't have their lucky day. The only Ajax forward performing well was - once again - Andy van der Meyde, who's becoming more important with each passing week.

In the second half, it soon became obvious that Ajax was fitter than Willem II, who had played a game on Thursday and visibly started to feel that. Apparently, Ronald Koeman figured that bringing on a fast runner for Knopper would be a fine idea. Pius Ikedia (what a long time it's been) proved him right within two minutes, penetrating Willem II's defense from the left flank, releasing a low cross, which Zlatan missed and was then pushed into the net by former Feyenoorder Raymond Victoria (60).

Playing with so much determination, creating so many chances, Ajax seemed to be able to notch a winner. The Amsterdammers were obviously in control of the game, but quite surprisingly, the tired Tricolores got no less than three excellent opportunities to wrap it all up. The unstoppable Jatto Ceesay was the key man. Fred Grim showed no fear as Ceesay had a free passage to the goal in the 71st minute, but had to pay for his tremendous save with a head injury. The result was an unexpectedly soon re-appearance for Joey Didulica.

Didulica needed luck on two more occasions: first, when a free scoring opportunity was headed inches wide by former Ajacied Denny Landzaat, and even more so when - who else? - Jatto Ceesay received the ball, standing free as a bird on the penalty spot, but wildly aimed too high.

And then, just when everyone started to accept the loss of two precious points, the knock-out blow was delivered by Nikos Machlas, who headed home from a splendid Van der Meyde cross (90). Several Willem II players sank to the grass in misery, while the Ajax team ran to the other end of Willem II Stadium, celebrating the winner with the section of travelling fans. The goal added by Pius Ikedia only seconds later was one of those 'training session goals' you can only score against an already knocked out opponent.

Late as it came, this victory was fully deserved. It was also Willem II's first home defeat of the season, which underscored what a fine achievement this was. The upcoming weeks' opponents (RKC at home, AZ away) seem beatable for an Ajax team playing like this. But first it's 'Amstel Cup time' on Thursday! One, maybe even two, semi-final slots during Ajax USA's trip to Amsterdam are at stake. (MP)

GOALS

• 42' 1-0 Jatto Ceesay
• 60' 1-1 Raymond Victoria (own goal)
• 90' 1-2 Nikos Machlas
• 90' 1-3 Pius Ikedia

Referee: Bossen
Yellow cards: Mariana, Shoukov (Willem II)
Attendance: 14,700 (sold out)

Ajax line-up: Grim (74. Didulica); Vierklau, Chivu, Bergd¢lmo, De Cler; Galásek, Knopper (58. Ikedia), O'Brien; Van der Meyde, Zlatan (71. Machlas), Wamberto.

Willem II line-up: De Vlieger; Victoria, Van Nieuwstadt, Janssens, Mathijsen (82. Sektioui); Landzaat, Caluwé (77. Mariana), Mathijssen; Ceesay, Bombarda (73. Van Beelen), Shoukov.

Related Links:

• Discussion: Ajax current form
• Multi-media: Machlas goal, Vierklau comments
• Ajax.nl: Match report (in Dutch, with pictures)