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Match Report: Despite bitter draw for Ajax, qualification chances still intact

Let's answer the most important questions first, after Tuesday's bitter loss of two points against Rosenborg BK (1-1): yes, Ajax can still advance to the second round. No, they do not have to win in Lyon. Yes, they will have to beat Inter. The only things that have changed: firstly, if Ajax lose in Lyon, it will have to be a win by two goals against the Italians. And secondly, due to this result, Ajax can - in theory - still finish bottom. Otherwise, it's actually very amazing how little has changed in group D, after both Ajax vs Rosenborg and Lyon vs Inter (3-3) ended in a draw.

Good to know, but it doesn't make the draw against the Norwegians less bitter. Ajax had to win, Ajax wanted to win and Ajax should have won - but it did not happen. Just like in the home game against Olympique Lyonnais, the difference in quality between the first and second half was too big. There was Norwegian pressure, there were a few chances, that turned out to be the prologue to the 'RBK' equalizer. A Frode Johnsen shot left goalkeeper Henk Timmer chanceless, which forced Jelle Van Damme to use his hands on the goal-line, knowing what the sanction would be. What else could the young Belgian do? Dagfinn Enerly converted the penalty: 1-1 (85).

An enormously frustrating conclusion to a night which Ajax started in similarly classy style as the Lyon home game. Coach Ronald Koeman had reverted to 4-3-3 system, knowing that wingers were required to surround the defensive Rosenborg fortress. It proved to be a good decision: both Andy van der Meyde and Nourdin Boukhari played a fine game, giving the Rosenborg defensive backs an extremely tough night. Boukhari created the most dangerous moment for Ajax, as he 'stole' the ball from a defender's foot and pulled it back to Zlatan, who would have been able to push it home if he'd had a larger shoesize.

As determined as the team was, they knew they had to be patient. Against a team so shamelessly destructive and negative as Rosenborg BK, the attacking team has to cherish its possession of the ball, and convince itself that it's not necessary to always create a scoring chance in five or six passes. Ajax did this well, in the first half, letting the ball go from foot to foot with great concentration, waiting for the opening.

Nevertheless, despite the continuous Ajax pressure and an apparent handball inside the penalty box for which the annoyingly weak Spanish referee refused to give a penalty, the best chance of the first half was for the guests. It must have been one of the first times they even crossed the middle-line, but Enelry's fine cross provided Brattbakk with an open header opportunity. It surprised the former Celtic striker so much that he nodded wide. Shortly before, referee Ibanez did not see that Zlatan very nastily used his elbow in a duel with goalkeeper Arason. A disgrace, and it was not the first time in his Ajax career the Swede displayed such bestial behaviour. Koeman, after the game: "I didn't see what happened. I'll watch the footage. If he hit the kleeper, I'll talk to him about that. We can't have that kind of thing."

The well-deserved reward for a first half of classy, dominant football - with a stunningly superb Jari Litmanen - came in the 41st minute, albeit with a little bit of luck. Penetrating the RBK penalty box from the right, Andy van der Meyde almost stumbled over the ball, thereby accidentally launching Hatem Trabelsi with an apparently brilliant thru-pass. The Tunisian pulled back to Zlatan who could impossibly fail on the goal-line: 1-0 (41).

During the tea-break, Ajax must have remembered the way they almost gave the game away against Lyon. The team was, therefore, warned, but once again, the second half was not nearly as good as the first. RBK was taken by the hand by the formidable Orjan Berg, who was a constant plague in midfield, and was given far too much space. Whose task it was to stop him was not entirely clear: Galásek? Litmanen? Whoever it was, he failed. Time and time again, Berg could walk straight to the Ajax penalty box with the ball.

In that defensive line, former RBK man André Bergdølmo was rather weak once again. Hatem Trabelsi was good when rushing forward, but erratic in defense. Even Cris Chivu didn't exactly play his best game for Ajax. It is apparently impossible for the shaky Ajax back-line to survive a substantial period of pressure from the opponent.

There was a difference with the Lyon game, though: back then, there was no escape, so that Ajax was under pressure throughout the second half. RBK simply lacks the football qualities to create such pressure, so that the second half was balanced rather than dominated by the Norwegians. Zlatan got another chance and a superb run by Nourdin Boukhari was finisished with a superb shot, which flew inches wide of the upper ninety. Finally, substitute Mido almost surprised goalkeeper Arason by volleying unexpectedly from some 30 yards.

The best chance, once again, was for RBK, as goalkeeper Henk Timmer was forced to stylishly snatch a backward header out of the upper corner. It was not the only moment of panic in the Ajax defense.

Did RBK deserve the equalizer, is the question. In a way, they did. In both halves, the best (header) chance was for them. There was pressure in the second half and Ajax was regularly pushed back too deeply to still claim that the game was 'under control'. You might also say that the equalizer was a case of blatant injustice. To the neutral spectator, there was only one team that played football: Ajax. RBK's coach, Mr Nils Arne Eggen, should never again make silly claims that his tactical system is inspired by the Ajax philosophy. Azar Karadas was his only striker. The rest of the team followed its orders not to cross the middle-line. A negative, destructive 'anti-football' approach even the most defensive of Italian teams would be slightly embarrassed of.

But it worked for them, making for an anti-climax so bitter you'd almost forget that not that much has changed in Group D, an amazingly 'open' group in which even Rosenborg BK still has its fate into its own hands. (MP)

GOALS

• 41' 1-0 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
• 85' 1-1 Dagfinn Enerly (penalty)

Referee: Dauden Ibanez (Spain)
Yellow cards: Chivu, Galásek, Van der Meyde, Zlatan (Ajax), Berg (Rosenborg BK)
Red card: Van Damme (Ajax, 84')
Attendance: 42,026

Ajax line-up: Timmer; Trabelsi, Bergdølmo, Chivu, Van Damme; Galásek, Litmanen, Witschge (82. De Jong); Van der Meyde, Zlatan (71. Mido), Boukhari.

Rosenborg BK line-up: Arason; Hoftun, Basma, Strand, Berg; Enerly, Frode Johnsen, Skammelsrud (39. Olsen), Saarinen; Karadas, Brattbakk (74. Ludvigsen).

Group D result: Olympique Lynnais vs Internazionale FC 3-3

Related Links:

• Discussion: European Games
• Supershota: Goals (AVI video)
• Ajax.nl: Match Report (in Dutch)