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Match Report: Strong Ajax fails to score, settles for draw


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KPN Eredivisie Amsterdam Arena Sunday, 03 March, 2002

Despite playing perhaps its best match since the winter break, Ajax failed to convert numerous open chances against their arch-rivals Feyenoord on Sunday. In the end, the home side was fortunate to take one point from the match, courtesy of a dubious late penalty awarded by the typically wayward Dick Jol. Andre Bergdolmo converted perfectly to score the equalizer, Ajax' 5,000th goal in all competitions. Despite the unsatisfying result, Ajax USA travelers enjoyed an engaging "Classic," played in a sold-out Arena on a bright Amsterdam afternoon.

Pierre van Hooijdonk tries to elude Ajax wall. [Photo: ANP]

Ajax were generally the superior team throughout the match, but the absence of a goal-scoring hero set the stage for a resilient Feyenoord side. Leonardo, a 64th minute substitute, gave the visitors the lead with a nicely taken goal in the 79th minute. After eluding John O´Brien outside the penalty area, the Brazilian teenager used his left foot to place a curling shot into the far side of goal. Fred Grim played extremely well in his final Classic, but could do little about Leonardo´s shot, which took a slight deflection off Cristian Chivu on its way to goal.

Ajax were rescued from a second consecutive home-loss to Feyenoord (they lost 3-4 last season) by our 'old friend' Dick Jol, who awarded an undeserved penalty on a Nikos Machlas flop -- after viewing replays, head coach Ronald Koeman admitted it was not a penalty -- just minutes after refusing to award what would have been a deserved penalty when Andy van der Meyde was taken down in the area. André Bergdølmo converted perfectly to level the score in the 85th minute. It´s somewhat ironic that Ajax´ 5000th goal in all competitions was scored by a Norwegian defender on a doubtful penalty decision.

Perhaps most disappointing -- and troubling -- for Ajax fans is the continued ineptness of the central strikers, especially Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who seems absolutely spellbound by his own bad form in front of goal in recent games. Koeman has tinkered with his attackers so much in the past few weeks that neither Zlatan, Machlas or Mido could have much in the way of confidence at present.

Koeman´s substitution decisions have left many an Ajax fan scratching their heads lately. In the 66th minute, he brought on Zlatan for Pienaar and Abubakari Yakubu for Wamberto. Apparently, this was intended to add firepower to the attack while bolstering the defense with a more defensive-minded midfielder, but the absence of Wamberto created a void in midfield which Feyenoord was able to exploit for their most dangerous period of the game. Several turnovers in midfield allowed the visitors to create sustained pressure on the Ajax defense, and eventually led to the goal.

Ajax were skillfull, fluent and attack-minded for the first 70 minutes, but did not score. Feyenoord were bitterly resilient during that period, and then lethal in their 15 minutes of dominance that followed. Typically, Ajax played like men possessed after surrendering the goal, and were both lucky -- the dubious penalty -- and unlucky in the match, if you can describe Zlatan´s glaring failure in the closing moments unlucky. The Amsterdam crowd apparently were not willing to attribute it to bad luck; they sent an ever-increasing barrage of scornful whistles his way after the missed chance near the end of the match.

Simply put, Ajax did a marvelous job in creating chances and a horrible job in finishing them. In addition to Zlatan´s failure, Ajax headers struck the crossbar on two separate occasions; once by Machlas and another by Wamberto.

Some of the best performances by Ajax players in this match... Fred Grim played a stellar game in goal, and Andy van der Meyde continued his excellent form of late. He was especially effective in the first half, twisting Feyenoord´s defense into the Arena turf with his audacious one-on-one play and effective crosses. Bergdølmo and Chivu were once again a rock-solid tandem in defense, which has become typical for them in the latter part of the season.

Surprisingly, it was the workmanlike performance of Jan van Halst which earned the favor of the Arena crowd, who voted him "Man-of-the-Match" with their SMS-enabled cellphones. Gritty though it was, the Lazarus in midfield made numerous errors that led to loss of possession; his selection is somewhat baffling to this reporter.

Also notable was the return of Hatem Trabelsi, who played well at right back despite his long and conspicuous absence from the first team. The Tunisian international brought a level of creativity and skill to the build-up that has been lacking in the play of Tim de Cler and Ferdi Vierklau at that position. It should also be noted, however, that Trabelsi played somewhat recklessly in defense, drawing several needless fouls -- a habit Koeman will no doubt endeaver to correct in the final two months of the season. (JM)

GOALS

79' 0-1 Leonardo
85' 1-1 André Bergdølmo (penalty)

Referee: Jol
Yellow Cards: Ono, Rzasa (Feyenoord), Trabelsi, Chivu, Bergdolmo (Ajax)
Attendance: 45,750

Ajax line-up: Grim; Trabelsi, Bergdolmo, Chivu, O'Brien, Van Halst, Pienaar (66. Zlatan), Maxwell (80. Ikedia), Van der Meyde, Machlas, Wamberto (66. Yakubu)

Feyenoord line-up: Zoetebier, Emerton, Paauwe, Van Wonderen, Rzasa, Bosvelt, Tomasson (86. Aros), Ono, Kalou (64. Leonardo), Van Hooijdonk, Van Persie