Late escape for unconvincing Ajax against Groningen: 2-1
2 (1) - 1
(0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA,
Amsterdam
Sunday, 04 April, 2004
It will be very hard to find a single Dutchman who seriously
believes that PSV can still win the 2003-2004 Eredivisie
championship. The only way in which Ajax could (in theory)
still get itself into trouble would be by approaching the
remaining six league games in the same way as today's home
fixture against FC Groningen. In spite of the fact that the
'Pride of the North' played quite haplessly themselves, a draw
was in it for them until the final whistle. Ajax, meanwhile,
escaped with the full three points thanks to an erratic
linesman, who did not see that Johnny Heitinga was off-side
when he nodded Ajax's decisive second behind goalkeeper Jeroen
Lambers, four minutes before the final whistle: 2-1.
"The papers will probably write about 'Lucky Ajax' tomorrow
morning," was Ronald Koeman's expectation. "They do that every
once in a while, but this time the expression is called for, I
suppose." The Ajax boss agreed that Heitinga was off-side and
he fully endorsed the common point of view that Ajax performed
tepidly, passing far too slowly and failing to find openings
against an ultra-defensive opponent that kept ten men behind
the ball for most of the game.
The list of absentees was most definitely not the reason for
Ajax's meandering play, as there hardly was one this week. The
only player who would probably have started had he been fit was
Zdenek Grygera. The other injury cases have been out of the
picture for so long that they hardly feel like members of the
squad anymore (Litmanen, O'Brien), or they are not currently
regarded as starters anyway: Soetaers, Sonck and Trabelsi. The
latter - according to Koeman - hasn't been his normal self
since the African Nations Cup. Trabelsi has admitted that he
wants to move on, but - in sharp contrast with last season -
there is no concrete interest from prestigious English or
Southern European clubs. According to Koeman the Tunisian is
clearly troubled by this, so that Nigel de Jong was given the
nod and started as Ajax's right fullback.
The 'Ajax Airforce': Johnny
Heitinga and
Zlatan Ibrahimovic. [Photo: Gerard van
Hees/Ajax.nl]
The Ajax team that started was almost exactly Koeman's
line-up of preference, but took its task far too easily in the
first half, displaying a lack of ideas and a total lack of
pace. Yet, Ajax had chances. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, for example,
fired against the cross-bar from close range in the 15th
minute. It was the only noteworthy moment from the Swede, who
otherwise was the epitome of Ajax's shiftlessness. Shortly
before the half-time break Ajax almost took the lead in a
rather cheap way, as goalkeeper Jeroen Lambers let a Wesley
Sneijder shot slip through his fingers. A catlike dive was
required to keep the ball from trickling across the goal-line.
As for FC Groningen: the guests hardly had any offensive
intentions. Their only noteworthy attack culminated in a volley
by Sander van Gessel, which flew a yard or so over the
cross-bar.
More than 49,000 Ajax fans at the ArenA expected Ajax to be
more inspired after the break, but were disappointed by the
team in the first ten minutes. Just as the crowd started to
grumble, Ajax took the lead: a fine combination of Maxwell and
Nicolae Mitae over the left flank was taken over by Rafaël
van der Vaart, who graciously slipped past a defender and
the goalkeeper and slotted home: 1-0 (57'), a goal that
Ajax deserved only because of Groningen's total lack of
offensive ambitions - not for its own play.
Van der Vaart seemed on his way to his second goal six
minutes later, as he intercepted Melchior Schoenmakers' erratic
backpass. Goalkeeper Lambers came rushing in, bringing Van der
Vaart down in his attempt to save. Referee Oskam,
however, did not give the penalty. It was in this
phase that both the tame crowd and the uninspired players
started to think that the three points were already secured and
that a second Ajax goal was going to be scored
automatically.
Johnny Heitinga scores the
game-winner from an
off-sides position. [Photo: Gerard van Hees /
Ajax.nl]
In an attempt to give his lame team a new impetus, coach
Ronald Koeman substituted three players. Firstly, Zlatan
Ibrahimovic's apathetic performance was brought to an end
(Yannis Anastasiou was brought on), whereas Victor Sikora
replaced Nicolae Mitea. Eight minutes later Jelle Van Damme
took over from Wesley Sneijder. What made the latter
substitution interesting was Koeman's poor timing,
just as Groningen was going to take a free kick.
Van Damme was on his way to his position inside the penalty
area as Groningen's human battering-ram, Martin Drent, nodded
back to Glen Salmon, who all of a sudden had an open chance and
calmly levelled the score, totally out of nowhere (75').
"1-1 would have been a fair result," said Groningen coach
Ron Jans after the game. Ronald Koeman, who played alongside
Jans in the great Groningen side of the early 1980s, had to
agree. But Ajax ran off with the three points after all.
Rafaël van der Vaart crossed into the box and Julien
Escudé flicked it on with the head. The ball would have
probably bounced into the bottom corner anyway, but the fact is
that Johnny Heitinga gave the final push with his forehead
while he was off side: 2-1 (86'). Ajax celebrated its late and
lucky escape as if it was a daily routine. Even after Ajax's
second goal Groningen could have equalized, as Mile Krstev's
perfect free kick was punched over the cross-bar by Bogdan
Lobont.
What remained was the question why Ajax's play was so
mysteriously uninspired. Koeman: "I think that's down to the
fact that sixteen or seventeen of our players were on tour with
their national teams this week. In some cases there were
publications in the press that made them feel like they were
walking on clouds. You could see that in training - and in
today's game (...) If you win your poor games you win the
championship, which is what we are definitely going to do. Next
week it will be a lot easier for us to have the right
mentality, for the simple reason that we'll visit Feyenoord. I
would expect everyone to be fully awake for that one." (MP)
GOALS
- 57' 1-0 Rafaël van der Vaart
- 75' 1-1 Glen Salmon
- 86' 2-1 John Heitinga
Referee: Oskam
Yellow card: Krstev (FC Groningen)
Attendance: 49,212
Ajax line-up: Lobont; De Jong, Heitinga,
Escudé, Maxwell; Galásek, Van der Vaart, Sneijder
(74. Van Damme); Pienaar, Ibrahimovic (66. Anastasiou), Mitea
(66. Sikora).
FC Groningen line-up: Lambers; Florén,
Kruiswijk, Schoenmakers (72. Hugo), Van der Linden; Smit,
Krstev, Van Gessel, De Witte (61. Drent); Salmon, Pinas (40.
Tuhuteru).
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