1118.html
Match Report: Fickle Ajax loses much ground
 |
 |
 |
| 1 (1) |
|
3 (1) |
KPN Eredivisie
Amsterdam Arena
18 November, 2001 |
|
The league standing wouldn't tell the story, but Ajax is
building up a terrible series of bad results. Today they
suffered their third defeat in the last five games, losing in
the ArenA to NAC 1-3.
The bad run started exactly one month ago, when Ajax was
unable to outclass FC Kopenhagen in Denmark in the first match
of the second round of the UEFA cup. This weak performance
didn't seem so out of place when, two weeks later, FC
Kopenhagen knocked the Amsterdammers out of the tournament,
beating them in the return leg in the Arena.
In the mean time, Ajax didn't perform any better in the
league, suffering a heavy 5-1 defeat against Heerenveen. Coach
Adriaanse talked about an 'incident' and it looked as if he was
right when Ajax four days later seemed to have recovered,
beating Willem II 4-1. But looking back it was just this
victory which appeared to be the exception in a series of bad
matches. Two weeks ago, Ajax also lost points against De
Graafschap.
 |
Nikos Machlas holds his head in
disbelief after Ajax failed to convert a scoring
opportunity. [source: ANP]
|
And today it went wrong again. Ajax started well, and with
an early goal after 8 minutes it looked as if it was going to
be an easy afternoon. Especially because NAC didn't really seem
to have come to Amsterdam to win this game. NAC didn't seem
focused, and their bad passing seems to make things rather easy
for Ajax. But after Van der Vaart's (who else) early goal
(scored in a scramble), Ajax failed to push through.
| |
Fan disturbance
Ajax supporters and riot police clashed in and around
the Arena following Sunday's game. More than 65 fans were
arrested. NAC supporters were kept inside their section
of the stadium for over two hours for their own safety
before being allowed to leave.
These were the heaviest riots ever seen inside
the ArenA. During much of the afternoon, stadium police
were forced to give up efforts to control the violence,
choosing to wait it out from behind closed glass doors
while much of the stadium facilities were damaged. Food
bars and cigarette machines were looted during the
rioting.
|
| |
It was clear that a 2-0 would have put an end to all hopes
of NAC and would have secured the victory today in an early
stage. But instead of an early knock out, Ajax let the opponent
come back in the match. The turning point was after half an
hour. After a beautiful cross pass by Chivu and a skilfull ball
control from Van der Meyde, Van der Vaart nicely placed the
ball behind NAC goalie Babos. But his goal was (again) ruled
offside. And instead of 2-0, it turned 1-1 two minutes later
when NAC scored their first chance of the match. It was
Christiano who headed home after a well taken free kick by
Schreuder ('30).
Ajax didn't get any more better from that point. Neither did
NAC however, but they seemed to be very happy with one point -
their first one in the ArenA after losing four times in a row.
It was probably very much to their own surprise that they hit
the jackpot with three points when, in the second half,
individual mistakes led to two more NAC goals. First it was
Wamberto who defended carelessly and needed to foul to stop his
opponent. The free kick wasn't dangerous, but Ajax couldn't get
rid of the ball and then it was American international Earnie
Stewart who, from a 25 meter distance, beautifully fired the
ball into the upper ninety ('50). Later on, Chivu was easily
set aside by Cristiano, who scored his second goal of the day
('65).
This wasn't the only mistake Chivu made in the game. He had
started the match so well, with great offensive-minded play,
but his collapse was symbolic of the rest of the team who,
after the first 30 minutes, never convinced the crowd that they
were able to win this game. Once, Van der Vaart came close to
the equalizer, but his shot hit the bar in the upper corner.
And also Machlas came close a few times, but the Greek doesn't
seem the right player for important goals. Although he didn't
play such a bad game, one can seriously wonder whether he can
also score goals when it is not already a done deal.
By fits and starts, Ajax showed what they're capable of, and
of course they have already proven this at the beginning of the
competition. But this match made perfectly clear that if Ajax
doesn't concentrate well during their game that they can get in
serious problems. The result of that inconsistency is a bad
series with only one victory out of six matches. But with a
little more concentration, there should be no reason for
panicking. With this young and fickle team, it is possible that
the next match will be a very good one again. That may come in
handy, since the next one is nothing less than the big clash
against PSV. (BV)
Goals:
- 08' 1-0 Rafael van der Vaart
- 30' 1-1 Cristiano dos Santos Rodrigues
- 50' 1-2 Earnest Stewart
- 65' 1-3 Cristiano dos Santos Rodrigues
Referee: Van Egmond
Cards: yellow: Penders, Schreuder, Stewart (NAC)
Attendance: 35,500
Ajax line-up: Grim; Bergdølmo (67' Mido),
Chivu, Heitinga, De Cler, O'Brien, Galásek (62'
Knopper), Van der Vaart, Van der Meyde, Machlas, Wamberto
NAC line-up: Babos; Feher, Penders, Schenning,
Gudelj, Petö, Stewart, Schreuder (88' Engelaar),
Cristiano, Sergio (62' Hersi), Bobson (81' Simons)
Related Links:
