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Ajax-1 contributes four goals to glorious evening

In the previous round, coach Ronald Koeman had explained a few days before tonight's game, Ajax-1 had trouble concentrating in its own game against RBC Roosendaal, directly after Young Ajax' spectacular achievement. Back then, Ajax got off with a scare, squeaking past an under-rated opponent. Apparently, the team's getting used to it now. Once again they entered the pitch amidst roaring celebrations in the ArenA. This time, they kept cool and finished off FC Groningen convincingly: 4-0.

For the fans, both Amstel Cup 'double headers' were perfect: the first one because both teams escaped in dramatic fashion in extra time. This time, it was not nearly as nerve-racking, but equally enjoyable. Both Ajax teams were technically far superior to their respective opponents, making for a seven goal spectacle at the ArenA.

Despite the fact that Ajax played well for over an hour, Ronald Koeman had to admit that FC Groningen could have brought Ajax into big trouble in the first half. The northern team saw Macedonian winger Mile Krstev hit the cross-bar in the early minutes. Half an hour into the game, a Chivu slip-up allowed no less than three Groningen players to show up before Fred Grim, free as a bird. Heaven knows how he did it, but Grim managed to save Krstev's furious shot from close range, then stand up and throw himself in front of Hoogstrate's rebound as well.

Koeman, after the game: "I thought we'd made progress defensively, but this could have gone differently. We could have been eliminated by half-time. Thanks to Fred Grim, we stayed in the game."

It should be noted that Ajax had already taken the lead when Grim made his heroic save. Typically, it was topscorer Rafaël van der Vaart (back from a one game suspension) who slammed his head against a measured Van der Meyde cross (18').

FC Groningen never dominated and had, in fact, a lot of trouble keeping possession against the accurately passing Ajacieden. But then again, the guests got the ultimate scoring chance, this time with help from referee Wegereef, who saw an Ajax player deflect a high Florén cross with the hand. Wegereef was sure that De Cler was the guilty party, but TV footage made clear that he was wrong: it was Krstev. Nevertheless, Ali Boussabon got the chance to equalize from the spot, but lifted the ball against the cross-bar, amidst hellish whistling from the stands.

It seemed like the missed penalty broke FC Groningen's resistance. Ajax never got into any more trouble, and the game was decided a few minutes later. Once again, Wegereef did not look convincing, allowing Matthijs to rudely foul Vierklau and Vierklau to hit back. Coach Ronald Koeman entered the field to keep Vierklau and Andy van der Meyde from attacking Matthijs. But neither the disturbance nor Koeman's presence was a reason for Wegereef to act. In the meantime, Wamberto had picked up the ball and concluded a good run with a well-placed shot past Beukenkamp: 2-0 (42').

It was a done deal early in the second half, as Nikos Machlas - once again - did what Zlatan had failed to do in the first half: score goals. He picked up the rebound of his own attempt, making it 3-0 (50') and fired an excellent Van der Meyde cross high into the net three minutes later (53'). In a roaring Amsterdam ArenA, where the 'wave' rolled in circles, FC Groningen seemed ready for a good chastisement, but unfortunately hardly anything worth mentioning happened in the final half hour. The crowd didn't care; nothing could spoil this maginificent evening.

The only sad note of the night was the crowd's whistling at Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in spite of the fact that the Swede played a decent first half, was strong on the ball and almost always did something constructive with it. He was a bit unlucky when goalkeeper Beukenkamp saved his fine header, and he made the mistake of trying to score the artistic way (with a lob), where the easy way (a low shot) would probably have been more succesful. Some of the fans had apparently turned against the young Swede.

After the game, Andy van der Meyde said: "Nikos deserved the 'Man Of The Match' title. He scored twice in five minutes' time. The two of us are well attuned to each other. Things go well with Ibrahimovic, too, by the way. But he's having he hard time now. He wants to do well so badly, but it just doesn't happen for him right now."

Another interesting note was the John O'Brien's personal victory. After a good first season's half, the American seemed to have lost his place in the team, but Ronald Koeman now chose to play Van der Vaart as a 'shadow striker', creating a place for 'J.O.B.' at left midfield. This is meaningful, because the player for whom Koeman had previously chosen over the American (Richard Knopper) was fit and available, but remained on the bench.

As Wegereef's final whistle ended the second attractive game and the second Ajax triumph of the night, the excitement was still not over yet, as the draw for the semi finals was to take place on the pitch. The knowledge that the draw was televised live on Dutch network SBS6, elicited chants from the F-Side about 22 Ajacieden playing the final in Feyenoord's De Kuip stadium... (MP)

GOALS

• 18' 1-0 Rafaël van der Vaart
• 42' 2-0 Wamberto
• 50' 3-0 Nikos Machlas
• 53' 4-0 Nikos Machlas

Referee: Wegereef
Yellow card: Broerse (FC Groningen)
Attendance: 36,960

Ajax line-up: Grim; Vierklau, Chivu, Bergdølmo, De Cler; Galásek (46. Van Halst), Van der Vaart, O'Brien; Van der Meyde, Zlatan (46. Machlas), Wamberto (67. Ikedia).

FC Groningen line-up: Beukenkamp; Allach, Matthijs, Schoenmakers (67. Kruiswijk), Florén (59. Van Gessel); Hoogstrate, Hugo, Broerse; Krstev (73. Curovic), Boussabon, Robben.

Results of Amstel Cup Quarter Finals

• FC Utrecht vs SC Heerenveen 3-1
• PSV vs Feyenoord 1-1 (PSV advances after penalty shoot-out)
• Young Ajax vs Stormvogels Telstar 3-0
• Ajax vs FC Groningen 4-0

Related Links

• Ajax USA Match Report: Young Ajax vs Stormvogels Telstar 3-0
• Ajax USA News: Both Ajax team to play at home in Amstel Cup semi final
• Ajax.nl: match report (in Dutch, with pictures)