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Match Report: Ajax cruise to 0-3 victory at Heerenveen

The last time Ajax won in Abe Lenstra Stadium was five years ago, in 1997. Last season's visit brought Ajax one of its largest defeats in recent history: 5-1. The ease with which Ajax grabbed the three points this time was, therefore, remarkable.

SC Heerenveen, now sitting in disappointing 16th slot on the table, could have taken the lead in the very first minute, as Jari Litmanen's countryman Mika Väyrynen got on open scoring chance, but saw Joey Didulics save. It turned out to be the most dangerous moment for the hosts, who otherwise only managed a few chances when Ajax was already safely in the driver's seat.

Instead of being a goal down after two minutes, Ajax was in the lead after six. A nice combination between Sikora, Pienaar and Van der Vaart ended at Van der Meyde's feet. His shot would have been of no danger, had it not taken a deflection off Petter Hansson that sent it in an unexpected direction and into the Heerenveen goal.

It was a lucky goal from a right-winger playing on the left side of the field. Koeman had swapped the two wingers Sikora and Van der Meyde for this match, the only change from the last match against NEC. Koeman: "If Van der Meyde plays on the left side, he possesses the ball better and doesn't think about making an action all the time." It turned out to be a wise decision, as it was Van der Meyde who again scored Ajax' third of the evening. He received the ball from an onrushing Richard Witschge and beautifully curled the ball in the far corner.

In between the two goals by Van der Meyde, Tomas Galásek had already decided the game at a relatively early stage. In the 38th minute of the game, the Czech left Vonk nowhere, firing the ball from some 25 meters into the upper ninety. A nice score at half time, and a good reason for Koeman to use the second half to experiment for the much more important game against Valencia on Wednesday. After an hour he took out Mido, who had been invisible this evening, and brought in a fully recovered Jari Litmanen.

The Finn played together with Van der Vaart up front, the first time the two have played together. Not surprising, since they are usually rivals for the number 10 position. On this night, they played together, with Van der Vaart being the forward striker. "But this doesn't mean that they can only play together up front," Koeman stated afterwards. "They can also play together on the midfield."

Ten minutes after he entered the pitch, Litmanen began to show his unique skills. With a simple one-touch-pass, he sent Witschge away, leading to the 0-3 score by Van der Meyde.

Heerenveen couldn't do much this evening. They put Ajax under pressure in the first twenty minutes of the second half and did what they could, but the departure of the mighty Markus Allbäck was, apparently, too much for Heerenveen to overcome. They created a few little chances, but were not sharp enough to score from those, especially with a very strong Joey Didulica blocking their way in the Ajax goal. All in all a pleasant evening for Ajax just before the Valencia match. (BV)

GOALS

• 6' 0-1 Andy van der Meyde
• 38' 0-2 Tomás Galásek
• 76' 0-3 Andy van der Meyde

Referee: Luinge
Yellow cards: Maxwell, Galásek, Pienaar (Ajax); Nurmela (Heerenveen)
Attendance: 14,400

Ajax line-up: Didulica, Trabelsi, Chivu, Bergdølmo, Maxwell, Galásek, Pienaar (73. Witschge), Van der Vaart, Van der Meyde, Mido (67. Litmanen), Sikora (81. Boukhari).

Heerenveen line-up: Vonk; Venema, Edman, Hansma, Radomski; Jensen, Hansson, Väyrynen, De Jong (83. Kolk); Nurmela, Denneboom (70. Selakovic).

Related Links:

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