Ajax nets four at Den Haag, despite Heitinga dismissal
1 (1) - 4
(1)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Zuiderpark Stadium, The Hague
Sunday, 09 November, 2003
Almost exactly twelve years went by since Ajax last played
in The Hague's Zuiderpark Stadium on 3 November 1991. The name
of FC Den Haag since changed into ADO Den Haag, but some other
things never change: Den Haag vs Ajax is a fixture
that fills authorities and many others with fear since the
horrendous escalations of 1 March
1987. Some 1,100 riot police were mobilized to escort 600
Ajax fans to a game that was only attended by 9,420 people. The
atmosphere was grim and extremely hostile and The
Hague hooligans attempted to storm the visitors section in
the second half, but nevertheless a violent confrontation
between the two sets of fans could be avoided. Meanwhile, a
game of football was played, which Ajax won easily: 1-4.
Roy Stroeve, scorer of ADO
Den Haag's only goal, duels with Julien
Escudé. [Photo: ANP]
ADO's first Eredivisie season since 1992 is not passing off
too smoothly for the once great club from the
Residence: Vitesse and FC Zwolle are the only
Eredivisie teams with even fewer points than ADO. Ajax,
meanwhile, wanted to wash away the bitter taste of its midweek
stumble in Vigo. Coach Ronald Koeman changed his line-up in
several places: Rafaël van der Vaart, still suspended for
the league, was replaced by Wesley Sneijder, whereas Johnny
Heitinga was paired with Julien Escudé in central
defense. More than anything else, however, 9 November 2003
marked Jari Litmanen's first appearance in the Ajax starting
line-up since 18 May of this year. The Finn, who had a fine
game as a substitute against AZ, failed to make an
impression in what was his 250th official appearance for
Ajax - and was subbed on the hour.
It did not take long to figure out the qualities and
weaknesses of ADO Den Haag. Their qualities: their
determination and fighting-spirit, their ability to attack
opportunistically and - last but not least - Romeo Castelen, an
unstoppable, speedy dribbler upfront. Their major weakness and
the key reason why the team is in the relegation zone: the
defense. In no other game this season Ajax had as much space to
play and were the gaps in the opponent's defense as enormous.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had two major scoring chances in the opening
phase, in which goalkeeper Roland Jansen had to give away
several corner kicks. Nicolae Mitea in particular was a plague
for the green and yellow defense.
ADO left such enormous gaps and wasted so much energy in the
opening phase that Ajax just had to score. There was
never any doubt, not even when Maxwell allowed Ajax loanee
Cedric van de Gun to pull the ball back into the penalty box
from the right flank, where Johnny Heitinga and Tomás
Galásek failed to clear and Roy Stroeve got the
opportunity to fire home from close range: 1-0 (17').
ADO Den Haag managed to keep up with Ajax in this phase. The
Amsterdammers, meanwhile, played fairly well and never came
across as tired (after Tuesday battle in Vigo) or unwilling to
fight. Heitinga, who did not look good when ADO scored, slowly
became one of the better Ajacieden on the pitch. So did Wesley
Sneijder, who was heavily criticized by Ronald Koeman for
several poor performances in recent weeks, but now took Ajax by
the hand in impressive style. Ajax's equalizer was a
co-production of the two youngsters: a Sneijder corner kick,
powerfully nodded against the nets by Heitinga for his first
ever Ajax-1 goal (32').
There were no real scoring chances for either side in the
remainder of the exciting first half, but Ajax corners and
crosses caused chaos in Jansen's penalty area on several
occasions. The most artistic moment followed in stoppage time,
as Zlatan Ibrahimovic attempted to beat Jansen with a beautiful
chip from long range, which Jansen had to push over the
cross-bar. It was the last noteworthy moment of a first half
ADO Den Haag could be satisfied about, but about which Ajax -
meanwhile - did not have to worry.
Most of ADO's hopes for a good result evaporated only a
minute after the break, as Ibrahimovic left ADO's defense
flabbergasted with a stylish backward pass with his heel, which
left Sneijder unmarked. The midfielder showed no mercy and
fired home for his superb third goal of the season: 1-2
(47').
In the remainder of the second half the difference in
quality was so enormous that it was almost impossible for Ajax
not to score some extra goals. ADO coaches Israel and
Schoenmaker, meanwhile, brought on their last joker: striker
Peter Hofstede. Although it never seemed like ADO was going to
return into the game, Hofstede did have his impact on the game,
as he was the man to be pulled down by John Heitinga, who saw
his second yellow card. Both yellow cards were easily given by
referee Vink, but Ronald Koeman had no mercy with the
youngster: "It was his own fault. He received his first yellow
card for a foul after he'd clumsily lost the ball. And losing
the ball also forced him to commit the second foul."
Going down to ten men, however, never brought Ajax into to
trouble. In fact, before ADO even got the chance to take
advantage of their majority in numbers Ajax's third goal was on
the score-board. Zlatan Ibrahimovic managed to pull himself
loose from Jeffrey van As (a product of the Ajax youth system)
and volley a Wesley Sneijder free-kick against the nets: 1-3
(62'). It was the starting signal for the local hooligans to
storm out of their section and attempt to pay a visit to the
travelling Ajacieden. Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, was painfully hit
by Van As when he scored - and limped off the pitch to be
replaced by Petri Pasanen.
ADO Den Haag could have returned into the game in the 66th
minute, as Zdenek Grygera had to clear a Peter Hofstede header
off the goal-line and Bogdan Lobont had to save another
Hofstede header from the subsequent corner-kick. Ajax,
meanwhile, could have scored several more goals with ten men.
Only one more was added: Victor Sikora, a 69th minute
replacement for Mitea, was offered an easy finish by Wesley
Sneijder. Three Dutchmen to score for Ajax in one game... it
has become a rare thing. Another noteworthy fact: Wesley
Sneijder scored one goal himself and gave the assist for the
other three.
Ajax's win in The Hague came to stand much more easily than
Stroeve's early goal, the half-time score and Heitinga's
dismissal may suggest and consolidated the Amsterdammers'
leading position in the Eredivisie, after RBC Roosendaal
embarrassed PSV in Eindhoven on Saturday night (1-1). Ajax is
now four points ahead of the defending Dutch champions, who
were - good for Co Adriaanse! - leapfrogged by the Eredivisie
'surprise of the season': AZ.
With a two week break coming up (due to international games,
including Holland's Euro 2004 play-offs against Scotland) Ajax
can be very satisfied indeed. (MP)
GOALS
- 17' 1-0 Roy Stroeve
- 32' 1-1 John Heitinga
- 47' 1-2 Wesley Sneijder
- 62' 1-3 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- 80' 1-4 Victor Sikora
Referee: Vink
Yellow cards: Mensah (ADO Den Haag), Heitinga
(Ajax)
Red card: Heitinga (Ajax, double yellow,
60')
Attendance: 9,420
Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera, Heitinga,
Escudé, Maxwell; Galásek, Litmanen (58. De Jong),
Sneijder; Sonck, Ibrahimovic (62. Pasanen), Mitea (69.
Sikora).
ADO Den Haag line-up: Jansen; Rijaard (57. Ros),
Mensah, Van As, Carrilho; Bodde (78. Van der Laan), Stroeve,
Van der Leegte; Van der Gun, Castelen, Cales (57.
Hofstede).
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