Ajax survives 2nd half Celta siege, jumps to top in Group H: 1-0
1 (0) - 0
(0)
Champions League, Group Stage
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 22 October, 2003
The leader in Group H of the UEFA Champions League after
three games is... Ajax! AC Milan seemed to be the dominant side
in the first weeks, but the Amsterdammers now find themselves
two points clear of both Club Brugge and AC Milan, after the
Belgians' spectacular win at San Siro and Ajax's hard-fought
1-0 triumph over Celta de Vigo in the Amsterdam ArenA.
The three points were the rather handsome reward for 90
minutes of football that weren't exactly Ajax's best so far. In
fact, the performances against both AC Milan and Club Brugge
were easily more convincing than the match against the current
#16 in Spain's Primera Division. Although Ajax was the dominant
side in the first half and deserved the lead when Zlatan
Ibrahimovic scored his amazing match-winning goal, Ajax only
survied the subsequent 36-minute scare by pulling out all the
stops. The latter half hour brought back memories of last
season's second half sieges by Olympique Lyon and Valencia.
Ajax vs Celta de Vigo was an exciting and tight, more than a
good game: the hosts had to draw heavily on their determination
and fighting-spirit, while the Spanish insipidly and very
obviously went for a 0-0 draw, only to leave their trenches
when they were forced to by Ajax's goal. It was exciting to see
the Amsterdam side stagger, using up its last ounce of energy
in the final ten minutes, but eventually remaining upright.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores the
only goal of the match. [Photo: ANP]
In spite of the slightly disappointing quality of Ajax's
play several positive conclusions can be drawn. For starters,
it is now safe to state that Ajax does not miss Cristian Chivu.
The team conceded at least one goal in every home game in last
season's Champions League home fixtures. This season Bogdan
Lobont is keeping a clean sheet so far, as Ajax won both of its
home games, even while both of Chivu's replacements (Julien
Escudé and Zdenek Grygera) were missing and Jelle Van
Damme had to do the honours. Ronald Koeman, after the game:
"Van Damme did very well today. He still has to develop in
building up the play, but he stood tall with his defensive
qualities and his power in the air and in man-to-man
situations."
Secondly, Ajax more easily dominates during considerable
stretches of time and has become much more effective in front
of goal. As a result it seems like Ajax actually wins more
easily than last season, when only three out of fourteen (!)
Champions League games were won. This season's score, so far,
is two out of three.
The first half saw Ajax dominate, but hardly create any real
chances. Ajax almost took the lead in a very lucky way, as a
rather harmless Pienaar shot took a deflection off Zlatan
Ibrahimovic and trickled inches wide. Celta's most dangerous
moment was a Juanfran attempt on a low cross from the right. He
did not hit the ball well, so that Bogdan Lobont could easily
pick it up. The only real chance of the first half followed in
stoppage time: a major header opportunity for Wesley Sonck, on
a Maxwell cross. By that time, young Nicolae Mitea had made his
Champions League début, replacing Rafaël van der
Vaart, who was hit on the knee in the opening minutes and could
not carry on.
Ajax's best phase were the first ten minutes after the
break. It led to the - at that point well deserved - opening
goal by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It was arguably the Swede's most
beautiful Champions League goal for Ajax so far. After having
tricked Berizzo and Cáceres, Celta's last man
(Velasco) saw Zlatan's pass to himself roll by on his left,
while Zlatan slipped past him on the right. Goalkeeper Pinto
had to bow his head on Zlatan's clinical finish, making for
ecstacy in the ArenA: 1-0 (54'). Ajax could actually have dealt
the knock-out punch a few minutes later, as Ibrahimovic smartly
put Nicolae Mitea face-to-face with Pinto, but the Romanian
failed.
After that, to put it bluntly, the show was over as far as
Ajax was concerned. Ajax survived the remaining 35 minutes with
a lot of will-power and just enough luck. Almost every
free-kick or corner by Celta's Russian superstar, Alexander
Mostovoi, was dangerous. Bogdan Lobont had to punch a Milosevic
header out of the upper corner, saw another Milosevic attempt
go inches wide, saved a Juanfran shot with his fingertips and
was lucky as a Sylvinho shot took a deflection off Petri
Pasanen and bounced inches wide of an empty Ajax goal.
Hatem Trabelsi was substituted in
the second half due to an injury
that would later prove to be quite serious. [Photo:
Ajax.nl/Gerard van Hees]
Meanwhile, the Spanish were also begging German referee
Markus Merk for a penalty on several occasions. Milosevic was
booked for an obvious dive, but Giovanella could have been
rewarded a spot-kick in the 60th minute. He was so convinced of
it himself that Merk showed him the yellow card for harping on
about it. According to Celta coach Lotina Merk was to blame for
the defeat. Koeman did not agree: "I've just seen some TV
footage and I didn't see a penalty in any of those situations.
I will admit that Celta deserved a point, but this has nothing
to do with the referee."
As for Ajax: the Amsterdammers had exactly one chance in the
final half hour: Wesley Sneijder, who played instead of Tom
Soetaers, placed his foot against a Trabelsi cross. The ball
would have gone wide, but Nicolae Mitea managed to hit the
outside of the post from an almost impossible angle. Ajax was
otherwise hardly able to maintain possession for more than 20
seconds in the last half hour, especially after a remarkable
Koeman substitution (Yakubu for Sonck) left Zlatan Ibrahimovic
all alone. The Ajax engine was visibly running out of fuel and
the final ten minutes saw the unusual situation that Sneijder
and Ibrahimovic simply rocketed to ball forward, into no-man's
land.
After the liberating final whistle the exhausted Ajacieden
were happy, but not entirely satisfied with their performance.
Wesley Sneijder said: "This was our poorest Champions League
game so far. We did it with our fighting spirit today."
Ajax will need more than just fighting spirit in Vigo on 04
November, where the entire game is expected to be like the
second half in the ArenA. But before that there's some
crucially important Eredivisie to take care of: in Eindhoven
Ajax will have to beat off PSV's attack on the top slot in the
Eredivisie. (MP)
GOALS
- 53' 1-0 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Referee: Merk (Germany)
Yellow cards: Cáceres, Milosevic,
Giovanella, Juanfran, Jesuli (Celta de Vigo)
Attendance: 48,514
Ajax line-up: Lobont; Trabelsi (64. De
Jong), Pasanen, Van Damme, Maxwell; Pienaar, Galásek,
Van der Vaart (39. Mitea), Sneijder; Sonck (80. Yakubu),
Ibrahimovic.
Celta de Vigo line-up: Pinto; Velasco, Sylvinho,
Cáceres (85. Angel), Berizzo; Luccin, Giovanella (81.
Catanha), Mostovoi, Juanfran, Jesuli; Milosevic.
Other Group H result:
Club Brugge - AC Milan 0-1 (UEFA.com:
match report)
Group H standings:
1. Ajax: 3-6 (3-1)
2. Club Brugge: 3-4 (2-3)
3. AC Milan: 3-4 (1-1)
4. Celta de Vigo: 3-2 (1-2)
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