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Desperate Ajax claw their way to victory...

Too little too late; Adriaanse fired next day

Co Adriaanse and the Ajax players must have known that Adriaanse's tenure as head coach was already doomed, but they played like a team whose very lives were on the line in earning a scrappy, come-from-behind 3-2 victory over FC Twente on Wednesday.

Adriaanse continued tinkering with his line-up, replacing Hatem Trabelsi with Johnny Heitinga and dropping John O'Brien in favor of an extra attacking player. Ajax lined up in a 4-3-3, with Andy Van der Meyde, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ahmed "Mido" Hossam up front and Tomas Galásek, Wamberto and Rafael van der Vaart in midfield, with Wamberto playing behind the attackers in the 'number ten' position.

And for the second game running, Adriaanse started the Brazilian Maxwell in favor of Tim de Cler at left back. It may be a while before Maxwell plays again. In the early going, Twente exploited huge spaces on the right flank where the Brazilian should have been stationed.

The first blow came after just 4 minutes, when Twente's winger Ellery Cairo was given too much time and space by Maxwell. He took his sweet time in picking out de Gier, who did well in volleying Cairo's low cross into Grim's net. The cameras immediately turned on Adriaanse, who looked truly despondent after the very early goal. Clearly, the time for stoicism and self-confidence had passed.

Ten minutes later, incredibly, it got worse. Cairo was left free to carry the ball unchallenged down the right touchline, which was once again vacated by Maxwell. Cristian Chivu filled the space between Cairo and the other attacking players, waving his arm madly at Maxwell to come back to defense and mark his man. Too little to late. Cairo ran to the end line, stopped, had a cup of coffee, read the evening paper, and then found a completely unmarked de Gier at the back post. The deftly crossed ball was easily headed into goal. 0-2 after 15 minutes.

Sound familiar? That's exactly what happened on Sunday, against PSV, when Ajax lost 3-1. This game, however, would end differently.

Beyond the two goals, this was a painfully ugly and inept first 20 minutes for Ajax. There was some kind of pervasive unease among the Ajax eleven; they seemed to be trying to shake off some collective illness; they seemed too distracted, sad or scared to fight. Eventually, other emotions would begin to take over, including frustration, as highlighted by Ahmed "Mido" Hossam's childish kick at the legs of a Twente defender. The Egyptian was justifiably red-carded for his impetuousness, and Ajax would have to struggle on with just 10 men.

And struggle on they did, to their credit.

Around the 30-minute mark, Ajax's increasingly passionate play began to slowly turn the ship. Chivu, looking like the gallant general in an already-lost battle, created the home side's first real scoring chance by carrying the ball some 40 yards from defense to deep into Twente's half before feeding an enticing through-ball to Zlatan. However, the Swede, who did not have a sharp game, wasted the chance by squibbing a poor shot from an unlikely angle across the face of goal. This drew gestures of open frustration from van der Vaart and Chivu, who were both unmarked and running onto goal, in a perfect position to score from just outside the 6-yard box.

Moments later, Zlatan drew a few whistles of derision from the home fans after firing another half chance wildly over the bar. He did not seem capable of hooking up with his teammates, choosing to try to score when teammates were bettter positioned and waiting for a pass.

But the ship indeed was turning, slowly and steadily. Increased pressure by Ajax in the latter part of the first half led to a string of promising opportunities.

In the 34th minute, Ajax saw their best chances of the first half. First, Rafael van der Vaart broke through on the right side and fired a crisp, low shot that required a good parrying save by Twente's keeper Sander Boschker. And just moments later, a fine, curling shot from Wamberto hit the post. Strangely, there was absolutely no reaction to be heard from the home crowd on these near-goals, as if the crowd, too, was unable to shake off some kind of illness of lethargy.

But it was not all Ajax in the latter stage of the first half. De Gier almost claimed a natural hat-trick in the 38th minute. Again benefiting from atrocious marking, the Twente striker fired a shot that rattled the near-side post before falling into touch.

Then, Mido's moment of foolishness. Frustrated by some harried marking by an FC Twente defender, the Egyptian lashed out long after the ball was gone, kicking his opponent hard in the side of the leg. A few half-hearted scuffles between players ensued. When the dust settled, Mido was justifiably sent off, and play resumed with Ajax down to ten men.

Just before halftime, Johnny Heitinga nicked the ball off the opposition and dribbled to the top of the box before unleashing a menacing shot, again requiring good work from the Twente keeper.

The game at this point had begun to resemble what would be called 'schoolyard ball' in the U.S.. Despite the ugliness and early ineptness, the football was now quite exciting, swinging wildly from end to end.

At halftime, the beleaguered Brazilian Maxwell was mercifully subbed for Tim de Cler, who came out like a house on fire, pressuring Twente on attack while defending well. Ajax began the second half as a wholly new team: assertive, creative, doing everything right and lacking only that final scoring touch. It would come, inevitably.

Eight minutes into the second half, it was Twente's turn to completely fail in man-marking. Andy van der Meyde was left alone inside the 6-yard box on a cornerkick. The initial ball to the near post was flicked to the back post, where van der Meyde had no trouble nodding into goal: 1-2.

From there on out, the game was a Wild West gunfight, with dozens of 50/50 balls and dangerous challenges from both teams. There wasn't much in the way of flowing football, due to the repeated fouls and resulting whistles from the referee, Van Dijk.

In the 73rd minute, Nikos Machlas was brought on for Zlatan; a wise move, given Zlatan's poor form on the night. Meanwhile, Ajax continued to defend welll and press the attack.

Three minutes later, Wamberto was fouled outside the Twente penalty area, and Rafael van der Vaart once again proved to be the saviour of Ajax. His 30-yard free kick, a screaming, swerving bit of set-piece perfection, busted inside the top right corner of goal: 2-2. Spirits in the Arena soared; in addition to the joyful reaction to such a beautiful goal, the players and fans also knew that the game was now there for the taking.

One of the strangest moments came in the 80th minute, when Van Dijk chose not to call a seemingly obvious penalty. Wamberto, dribbling through the defense, attempted to carry on after being tripped twice, once outside and again inside the box. The latter was obvious, with contact made high up on Wampy's leg without any attempt to play the ball. This got Adriaanse and the rest of the Ajax coaches out of their seats, but to no avail.

Then, in the closing minutes of play, Ajax rewarded the loyal fans who were still in the Arena with a stunning and beautiful goal. First, de Cler made a terrific sliding save to keep the ball in play along the right touchline. He then passed to van der Vaart, who passed on to Wamberto. The Brazilian made yet another great little run just outside the box. The Twente defenders, perhaps fearing a "make-up" call, gave him an inch of space, allowing him to shoot. And what a beautiful shot, from a player who knows the value of curl and placement over power. The ball rose just beyond a diving Boschker's outstretched hand before dipping and curling into the far top corner of the goal.

Ajax's jubilation was temporarily supressed by a dangerously placed free kick for Twente, just at the top of the homeside's penalty area. But the visitors hit their set piece wildly over the target, and now it was the home side's turn to kill the clock. And van der Vaart and van der Meyde did it extremely well, playing ticky-tack games in Twente's corner to drain out the final minutes of play.

And after the final whistle, Ajax celebrated, rightfully, as if they'd narrowly escaped death. Alas, there was no salvation for Adriaanse, who was fired the next day. (JM)

GOALS

• 04'  0-1  Jack de Gier
• 15'  0-2  Jack de Gier
• 53'  1-2  Andy van der Meyde
• 75'  2-2  Rafaël van der Vaart
• 86'  3-2  Wamberto

Referee: Van Dijk
Yellow cards: Grujic, Cziommer, De Gier (FC Twente)
Red card: Mido (Ajax, 40')
Attendance: 30,600

Ajax line-up: Grim; Heitinga, Chivu, Bergdølmo, Maxwell (46. De Cler); Galásek, Wamberto, Van der Vaart; Van der Meyde, Zlatan (73. Machlas), Mido.

FC Twente line-up: Boschker; Polak, Grujic, Pothuizen, El Brazi; Van der Weerden, Van der Laan, Van der Leegte (87. Houwing), Van de Paar (75. Cziommer); Cairo, De Gier.