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Match Report: Litmanen returns, as Ajax grabs no-frill victory over FC Zwolle

A team's objectives in the league game prior to a Champions League clash: to win, no matter how, without sustaining any injuries. Considering that, Ajax' home tie against FC Zwolle passed off quite perfectly. The Amsterdammers showed nothing special, but just enough to score twice, in a game that was - more than anything else - the big 'welcome home' to Jari Litmanen, who played for 63 minutes.

Litmanen's name only, resounding from the speakers, was enough to elicit ecstatic yells from the ArenA crowd, consisting of a spectacular 49,003 Jari fans. They were there especially for him and, of course, voted for him as their 'Man of the Match'. Was he really? He played better than some of his struggling team-mates (Sikora, Van der Meyde, Zlatan), but not as good as, for example, the unstoppable Hatem Trabelsi or the faultless Abubakari Yakubu. But who cared?

Litmanen's return diverted the attention from Ronald Koeman's problems for this game, which marked the beginning of the second period in a years' time in which Ajax will have to do without Rafaël van der Vaart. And of course there was the highly remarkable 'Mido incident', with the Egyptian stating that he is "100% sure" to leave Ajax in December. Koeman banned him from the squad, giving Zlatan Ibrahimovic the nod. Ajax played FC Zwolle without last season's most productive duo.

Also, there is a problem in the heart of the defense. André Bergdølmo is having a form-crisis, Petri Pasanen is still injured and Johnny Heitinga is apparently no option. It ushered in the unexpected return of Abubakari Yakubu in the Ajax line-up. The Ghanese was one the best Ajacieden on the pitch.

As the "Litmanen oh, oh" yells faded away, it became clear that it was going to be a tough game for Ajax, simply because too many players (including the entire forward line) have not shown their best yet, this season. It is becoming highly frustrating to see how Zlatan simply refuses to impose silence upon his many critics by converting the simplest of chances. As usual, the Swede showed a few nice moves and some intelligent passes, but in the end, all that remained was the bitter taste of failure. Again.

After three of his attempts had gone over the cross-bar in the first half, Zlatan should have opened the scoring early in the second, face-to-face with goalkeeper Van der Werff. He failed, got the rebouncing ball back - and failed again. Later, Van der Meyde provided him with the perfect cross for a striker to slam his head against, but Zlatan just grazed the ball and saw it trickle wide. Mido would have scored this one, you could almost hear the crowd think. Painfully enough, they were probably right.

The biggest chance in the rather weak and particularly slow first half was for Jari Litmanen, who was offered the perfect header chance by Victor Sikora. The header was fine, but just as the solidly packed ArenA was about to explode, there was ths truly amazing reflex by goalkeeper Van der Werff that spoiled the party.

Ajax played well for only fifteen minutes: the first fifteen after the break, to be precise. In this phase Zlatan missed his chances and two Tomás Galásek shots hit the post and the cross-bar, respectively. Quite remarkably, another prodigal son brought Zwolle to its knees, exactly on the hour. Having replaced Maxwell, Rochard Witschge played his first minutes of league football of the season. He was there to nod a truly magnificent cross by Hatem Trabelsi against the nets: 1-0 (60).

It was immediately clear that this goal was decisive, as FC Zwolle created no danger whatsoever. Only two of the harmless balls Maarten Stekelenburg received, came from the foot of a Zwolle player. The rest were backpasses. In the dull final half hour of the game, the only two highlights were Jari Litmanen's substitution and the penalty, easily given to Hatem Trabelsi by referee Schenkels. In default of Bergdølmo, Cristian Chivu converted: 2-0 (82).

Three points in the pocket - and all legs, knees and ankles still intact. Coming to think of it: Jari Litmanen actually deserved the 'Man Of The Match' title, simply because his return was the only thing that will make us remember this game. Next up: Olympique Lyonnais, champions of France. (MP)

GOALS

• 60' 1-0 Richard Witschge
• 82' 2-0 Cristian Chivu (penalty)

Referee: Schenkels
Cards: none
Attendance: 49,003

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Chivu, Yakubu, O'Brien; Galásek, Litmanen (63. Pienaar), Maxwell (46. Witschge); Van der Meyde (75. Boukhari), Zlatan, Sikora.

FC Zwolle line-up: Van der Werff; Doesburg, Schol, Kras, Van der Haar; Cvetkov, De Ridder, Van Steeg (77. Ravensbergen); Lim-Duan, R. Roelofsen (88. Bosschaart), Promes (25. M. Roelofsen).

Related Links:

• Discussion: Eredivisie Games
• Supershota: Goals (AVI video)
• Ajax.nl: Match Report (in Dutch, with pictures)