Weak Vitesse allow Ajax to look like champions
5 (3) - 0
(0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 21 March, 2004
Ajax's 29th Dutch championship in club history is
approaching amazingly quickly, now that the only remaining
competitor (PSV) seems to be falling apart and Ajax itself is
returning to form. The day after NAC Breda notched a 1-1 draw
from Eindhoven (the 10th and 11th lost points for PSV in a mere
five matches) Ajax was allowed at times to look like
a champion by arguably the weakest team the ArenA crowd saw in
action this season: Vitesse. Ajax showed mercy with the
poor, miserable Arnhem side by scoring 'only' five goals.
"It could have been 10-0," Wesley Sneijder said after the
game. He was right, in a way. Even on a complete off-day Ajax
would have beaten this meandering Vitesse lot by a goal or two.
A superb, flawless Ajax could have beaten them by 10-0 or more.
Today's Ajax had a very good first half, but was poorly
concentrated for some 25 minutes in the second. Mainly for that
reason the team netted five times - and not more than that.
Sneijder and Mitea celebrate the
latter's seventh goal of the
season -- and Ajax' third of the day. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]
Ajax started with the much discussed combination of Sneijder
and Van der Vaart in midfield, whereas Zdenek Grygera was
surprisingly chosen instead of Nigel de Jong to replace an
injured Hatem Trabelsi. Koeman had already announced that
neither Zlatan Ibrahimovic nor Steven Pienaar is ready for a
full game yet and that only one of them was going to play from
the start. In default of 'false' right winger Wesley Sonck (toe
injury) his choice for Pienaar was quite logical. Ibrahimovic
started on the bench, watching Yannis Anastasiou performing at
his position.
The Greek played a key part in Ajax's opening goal after 16
minutes, sending Maxwell on his way with a fine thru-pass. The
Brazilian smoothly slipped past Van Fessem and pushed home:
1-0. This came after an opening phase in which Vitesse
flabbergasted the Amsterdam crowd by almost literally doing
everything wrong. Erratic backpasses, nervous defending, giving
away corners in silly fashion... the Arnhem outfit seemed
paralyzed from the very start.
It allowed Ajax to pocket the three points in less than half
an hour. A Wesley Sneijder rocket from some 25 yards and a
slightly deflected low shot by Nicolae Mitea made it 3-0 before
Vitesse even seemed to realize that they were supposed to play
a game of football. Ajax's 'freewheeling' could commence well
before the halftime break. "Ten! Ten! Ten!" yelled the F-Side,
but for the time being Ajax forgot to add a fourth, for
starters. The best chance to do so fell to Steven Pienaar, on a
superb diagonal pass from Rafaël van der Vaart. The
South-African's shot, however, went diagonally wide.
With the three points (and the championship…) pretty
much in the bag, it appeared to be hard for Ajax to stay
focused. The Amsterdammers played in a low gear in the first 25
minutes after the break and passed all but accurately. The fact
that even in this phase Vitesse failed to unfold a single
proper attack shows how weak the yellow and black really were.
Amazingly, the Arnhem club can still work with one of the
larger budgets in the Dutch Eredivisie. It is shocking to see
them fight against relegation alongside small-timers Zwolle and
Volendam.
Zlatan attempts to bring the ball
through the legs
of a Vitesse defender. [Photo: Gerard van
Hees/Ajax.nl]
In spite of its lame play, Ajax created one chance after
another. When goalkeeper Van Fessem failed to hold on to a Van
der Vaart shot, the rebound was hammered against Van Fessem's
fists by Anastasiou. Two minutes later the Greek fired over the
cross-bar on a smart Pienaar cross.
Ajax could use some 'fresh blood,' which arrived in the 58th
minute, as Ibrahimovic and Sikora replaced Anastasiou and
Mitea. They could both have scored almost immediately: as Jimmy
van Fessem cleared poorly on a Van der Vaart shot, Ibrahimovic
should have easily nodded the rebounding ball into the netting.
He did it slightly too hard, so that the ball went over the
cross-bar. Only minutes later Van Fessem punched a Sikora shot
out of the upper ninety.
As Ajax shifted to a higher gear again, more goals were
inevitable. The first one came as Johnny Heitinga headed home
on a Wesley Sneijder corner kick. Seven minutes later no less
than three clueless Vitesse defenders watched as Wesley
Sneijder sent Ibrahimovic on his way to Ajax's fifth with a
subtle but simple thru-pass. At the other end Bogdan Lobont was
doing some exercises to stay warm. He could have gone for a cup
of coffee without anyone noticing it. Even Vitesse's German
striker Paolo Rink failed to aim properly as he suddenly had an
open chance in the 85th minute.
Koeman and coaches congratulate
each other after victory. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Vitesse coach Edward Sturing, who was an aggressive and
pugnacious fullback for the Arnhem club himself, said after the
game: "The defeat is not the most disappointing thing to
me, but the fact that we were never able to make this a real
game. I am ashamed of my team." His Ajax colleague, Ronald
Koeman, celebrated his 41st birthday and happily accepted the
5-0 win as a gift from his squad. "Normally the championship is
in the bag now," he said. That is a comfortable thought,
with the tough away fixture at Co Adriaanse's AZ coming up
next. (MP)
GOALS
- 16' 1-0 Maxwell
- 26' 2-0 Wesley Sneijder
- 28' 3-0 Nicolae Mitea
- 73' 4-0 John Heitinga
- 80' 5-0 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Referee: Van Hulten
Yellow cards: none
Attendance: 49,265
Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera, Heitinga,
Escudé, Maxwell; Galásek (74. De Jong), Van der
Vaart, Sneijder; Pienaar (58. Sikora), Anastasiou (58.
Ibrahimovic), Mitea.
Vitesse line-up: Van Fessem; Cornelisse,
Knol, Ilic (80. Jansen), Fränkel; Hofs (46. Rojer),
Konterman, Zongo, Janssen; Mbamba, Rink.
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