Ten Ajacieden moral winners in exciting PSV clash: 2-2
2 (0) - 2
(0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Philips Stadium, Eindhoven
Sunday, 26 November, 2003
The famous words of the great Rinus Michels - "football is
war" - sprang to mind in Eindhoven's Philips Stadium today,
where Ajax played its first top fixture of the season. Playing
football was a side-issue in the extremely unfriendly,
sometimes violent first half, which had the dismissal of Ajax
captain Rafaël van der Vaart as its apotheosis. After a
fifteen minute cooling-down an entertaining second half
followed, in which ten Ajacieden wiped out a PSV lead twice and
eventually walked off the pitch as the moral winners: 2-2. Ajax
stays 'tops' on the table.
Wesley Sonck goes head over heels
after scoring the first
of Ajax' two equalizers. Zdenek Grygera looks on. [Photo:
ANP]
The unfriendliness was predictable, in a way, given the fuss
about the 04 October red card for PSV striker Mateja Kezman.
Kezman and PSV did everything to avoid a suspension, or at
least delay the case. Ajax coach Ronald Koeman urged the KNVB
not to accept this and to come to a verdict before PSV vs Ajax.
PSV coach Guus Hiddink, in his turn, claimed during the KNVB
hearing that if Kezman deserved a suspension, Rafaël van
der Vaart also did, due to his incident with FC Groningen's
Paul Matthijs. The end of the story was that Kezman did not
play against an Ajax team that had its own problems, such as
injuries for Hatem Trabelsi, Jelle Van Damme and Steven
Pienaar. They did not play and saw Zdenek Grygera, John
Heitinga and Julien Escudé return to the starting
line-up.
PSV vs Ajax was a game like a hurricane in the first half -
and not always in a positive way. Both teams had one major
scoring chance in the opening phase: Dennis Rommedahl found
Bogdan Lobont on his way as he freely stormed to the Ajax goal
from the right flank. On the other side a fine Ajax attack via
Sneijder and Van der Vaart was concluded with a thundering
Ibrahimovic shot that hit the cross-bar full on. PSV won most
of the physical duels; Ajax played the better football.
The most remarkable moments in the first half were the
result of the grim and disrespectful atmosphere on the pitch.
The tone was set by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who hit Bogdan
Lobont in the face with a wild sliding. The Ajax goalkeeper
needed stitches. PSV, in its turn, lost two defenders in the
first 40 minutes. On both occasions Zlatan Ibrahimovic was
involved, which - given the Swede's reputation - almost
automatically led to accusations that he'd used his elbows
again. However, André Ooijer had to be replaced because
he twisted his shoulder when falling to the grass. Kevin
Hofland, on the other hand, was hit by Zlatan's elbow,
but TV footage showed that the striker made no 'hitting
movement'. The defender had to be brought to the hospital,
where he appeared to have sustained a concussion.
Yet, the players were behaving more violently than any of
the 35,000 spectators inside Philips Stadium: Rafaël van
der Vaart was furious as Mark van Bommel's elbow hit him in the
face in an attempt to protect the ball. The Ajax captain took
revenge one minute later by kicking John de Jong in the back
while the PSV forward was lying on the ground. The teams were
collectively our of control for a while: Mark van Bommel was
hitting someone, Wesley Sneijder also made a kicking movement,
but the appallingly weak referee Erik Braamhaar only wanted a
word with Van der Vaart and showed him the red card. Well
deserved, although Mark van Bommel surely deserved the same
penalty.
Hold on to the 0-0 score for as long as possible, were
Koeman's orders for the second half, but this ambition was
blown to pieces after only 40 seconds, as Venngoor and Van
Bommel dangerously showed up in front of Lobont. The Ajax
goalie seemed to have saved, but a wildly sliding Vennegoor
kicked it out of his hands in a rather dubious way, after which
the finish was a piece of cake for Van Bommel: 1-0.
The ten Amsterdammers, however, did not bow their heads.
They continued to 'play with a plan' and went forward whenever
they could. It surely did not look like there were more PSV'ers
on the pitch in this phase. Ajax's reward came as Zlatan
Ibrahimovic penetrated the penalty box on the left side and
released one more of his brutal shots. Waterreus could only
punch the ball straight into Wesley Sonck's feet, a chance the
Belgian never misses: 1-1. A well deserved equalizer at that
point.
In the remaining half hour PSV was the clearly dominant
side, although real chances were hardly created. But creating
real chances was not necessary in this game: all four goals
were the result of defensive errors. Petri Pasanen, who did not
look good on both of PSV's goals, allowed the hosts to take the
lead for the second time: the Finn nodded the ball straight
through the heart of Ajax's defense into John de Jong's feet.
The latter fired well from the edge of the box and left Lobont
no chance: 2-1.
Was the Ajax ten capable of wiping out another PSV goal? You
wouldn't say so, given PSV's pressure and Ajax's increasing
problems to counter-attack. But, just like their Ajax
colleagues, PSV's defenders moved in mysterious ways. PSV's
second lead lasted only three minutes. A Maxwell thru-pass
seemed an easy prey for defender Wilfred Bouma and goalkeeper
Ronald Waterreus, but both PSV'ers were waiting for the other
to clear, which gave Zlatan Ibrahimovic the time to stick out
his long legs and tap home: 2-2. PSV increased its pressure a
bit more in the final ten minutes, but was unable to produce
more than a few inaccurate shots and headers that were never a
reason for serious panic in the Ajax defense.
Ibrahimoviç proved to be
quite a handful for Bouma and
the other PSV defenders. [Photo: Louis van der
Vurst/Ajax.nl]
Both teams and coaches had one more surprise prepared for
crowd and press. After all the first hostility they seemed to
perfectly agree on almost everything after the game: 2-2 was a
correct result, they should have behaved better and shown more
respect for the opponent, Van der Vaart's red card was correct,
but Van Bommel should have been punished also… There was
nothing Koeman and Hiddink, or their respective players, seemed
to disagree about.
Although some incidents in the first half were very dirty,
PSV vs Ajax was a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting game,
especially compared it to last season's dull display, in which
Ajax surrendered easily. This year's edition was a battle, in
which many players crossed the line, but they were mature
enough to shake hands afterwards - and acknowledge that it's
all part of the game.
Quite remarkably, Ajax will once again face the league's
number two next weekend, as PSV were leapfrogged by Co
Adriaanse's spectacularly over-achieving AZ, who actually have
the same number of points as Ajax now (22 out of 9 games). The
derby of the Noord-Holland province hasn't been this
interesting in many, many years. (MP)
GOALS
- 46' 1-0 Mark van Bommel
- 58' 1-1 Wesley Sonck
- 69' 2-1 John de Jong
- 72' 2-2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Referee: Braamhaar
Yellow card: Van Bommel (PSV)
Red card: Van der Vaart (Ajax, 45')
Attendance: 35,000
Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera, Pasanen,
Escudé, Maxwell; Sneijder (80. De Jong), Heitinga,
Galásek, Van der Vaart; Sonck (90. Sonck), Ibrahimovic
(83. Litmanen).
PSV line-up: Waterreus; Ooijer (30.
Colin), Hofland (37. Lucius), Bouma, Lee; Rommedahl, Van Bommel
(65. Park), De Jong, Vogel; Vennegoor of Hesselink, Robben.
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