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Ajax defend well but fail to score in Copenhagen

A rather good first half and a considerably weaker second one were too little to secure a victory in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, against FC Købnhavn. With a 0-0 draw it is still highly uncertain whether Ajax will reach the next round or not. That will be determined in the second leg on 01 November at the Amsterdam ArenA. To make matters worse: Ajax will have do without their 'Boy Wonder', Rafaël van der Vaart, in the return leg, due to his third yellow card in UEFA competiton, which will automatically cost him one game's suspension.

FC Copenhagen started aggressively in the first ten minutes of the game, but after that Ajax gathered themselves and outclassed the Danes for the remainder of the first half with good position play, resulting in a few good chances. First there was a great chance for Zlatan, on a nice cross from Van der Meyde, who once again had a convincing game. Zlatan's chance was a 'sitter', but the Swede confirmed that he is weak with the head by nodding straight into the hands of goalie Kihlstedt. A few minutes later Wamberto did score with the head, but his goal was disallowed after an (incorrect) off-side call.

Ajacied Andy van der Meyde duels with Niclas Jensen of FC Kopenhagen. [source: ANP]

In this period Ajax were the by far better team. They should have scored the all-important away goal, but failed to do so. After this period of good football Ajax got weaker and weaker. It seemed as if the fighting spirit left the team. In the second half Ajax played sloppily and created very few chances. According to Adriaanse this had everything to do with the play of the opponent. "Copenhagen got more aggressive in the second half and therefore Wamberto and Van der Meyde had to defend more. This was the reason that we failed to create pressure upfront."

It looked like Ajax were balancing between two thoughts: either go for a victory or try not to concede a goal. This dualism seemed to paralyze the team, with a boring second half as a result. Although Adriaanse thought his team did a good job ("tonight we defended perfectly") one may wonder if Ajax should be satisfied with this result. Of course the next match will be at home, but that benefits Copenhagen too, as their away goals will count double. If Copenhagen score a single goal Ajax will have to score twice. To put it even more simply: Ajax must win to reach the next round. Any draw other than 0-0 will kill their European ambitions.

The hosts had their moments, too. In the first half Copenhagen midfielder Roll seemed to score, only to have his goal disallowed. In the second half Fernandez got a great chance when he found himself face to face with Fred Grim. But the Ajax goalie put himself at risk and saved superbly.

Despite the poor result, veteran Fred Grim is optimistic about the return match: "In the home match it will be possible to go through". However, young Van der Vaart, who will miss the match, warned his team-mates: "We have to be focused. Last year against Lausanne we thought we could go through easily, but we failed." (BV)

NO GOALS

Referee: Ceferin (Slovenia)
Yellow cards: Van der Vaart, Trabelsi, Wamberto (Ajax), Rytter (FC Copenhagen)
Attendance: 20,067

Ajax line-up: Grim, Trabelsi, Chivu, Bergdølmo, De Cler, O'Brien, Yakubu, Van der Vaart, Van der Meyde (81. Ikedia), Wamberto, Zlatan (75. Machlas).

FC Copenhagen line-up: Kihlstedt, Rytter, Madsen, Poulsen, Jensen, Røll, Zuma, Laursen, Fredgaard (62. Fernandez), Bisgaard (81. Thorninger), Lønstrup.

Related Links

• Official FC Copenhagen website