A new start in cold, snowy Kerkrade: Roda - Ajax 1-2

Ruud Krol and Tonnie Bruins Slot, Ajax's interim head-coaches after the departure of Ronald Koeman, had only two days to prepare their shaken squad for 'Roda away', traditionally one of the tougher away games of the season for Ajax. They did a good job. Ajax's play in snowy Kerkrade was still everything but perfect, but Ajax looked determined and battled Roda and the sometimes polar conditions like a team, so that the 'post-Koeman' era started with a fine result: Roda JC 1, Ajax 2. It was (a remarkable statistic in these troubled times) Ajax's 7th Eredivisie away win in a row.

There was no time for the new coaches to seriously improve things. Yet, a few tactical decisions showed that there is a new man at the helm: John Heitinga, for example, returned to the heart of defense. Nigel de Jong surprisingly played at left fullback, while Maxwell moved to midfield. In midfield (where Ajax was hit hard by injuries and the flu epidemic) they did not opt for Anthony Obodai or Daniël de Ridder to replace the likes of Steven Pienaar, Rasmus Lindgren and Rafaël van der Vaart (who just recovered from the flu and started on the bench), but for young Hedwiges Maduro, who made his official Eredivisie début for Ajax-1. The Holland U-21 international had a very good début match.

Koeman's departure did not appear to have caused a positive 'shock effect' in the first half of the game. Roda started well, put Ajax under pressure and had a few early chances to score, while Ajax played as poorly as in recent weeks and could easily have conceded an early goal, especially when Kah had a free passage to Maarten Stekelenburg in the 13th minute. The Ajax goalkeeper saved adequately. Seven minutes later he turned a Sergio free-kick around the post, thereby solving a problem he had created himself with a poor goal-kick, which was intercepted by Around Koné and forced John Heitinga to pull the emergency brake at the cost of a yellow card.

Interim Ajax coach Ruud Krol greets Anthony
Obodai after the final whistle. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Due to the heavy snowfall, which slowly turned the pitch of Parkstad Limburg Stadium into a white rug, on which the rolling ball left a green trail, referee Haverkort decided to continue the match with an orange ball after 30 minutes of football. The new ball brought Ajax good fortune: only three minutes later Hedwiges Maduro started an impressive run straight the heart of Roda's defense. Goalkeeper Kujovic failed to hold onto the youngster's shot, leaving it for Angelos Charisteas to tap home for his first Eredivisie goal for Ajax: 0-1 (33').

Finally: Charisteas scored! After a fine start (in the games against Utrecht and Heerenveen) the Greek's play dropped to a doubtful level in recent weeks. He was terrible in the first half at Roda, clumsily losing possession on several occasions, but improved considerably after his rather fortunate goal. In the second half he moved and passed well - and was also dangerous in front of goal on a few occasions. "This was a very important goal for me," he said after the game. "It gave me confidence. Things got easier after I scored. Now I have to stay calm and score more goals in the upcoming weeks."

Interesting detail: Ajax's topscorers may only have scored five times each, Charisteas did break a goal-scoring record. He was the 19th player for Ajax to score in the Eredivisie this season. So far, the highest number of players to score for a club in one season was 18. Ajax broke this record, quite remarkably, as early as in February.

Ajax's 'topscorers' (?), who have five goals each, are Wesley Sneijder, Ryan Babel, Mauro Rosales and... Julien Escudé, who made it 0-2 in the 42nd minute of the confrontation, by calmly nodding home on a Wesley Sneijder free-kick. Two-nil up at half-time. What a luxury in such a tough road game. Roda were the most dangerous side, initially, but the three points now seemed out of reach for them.

Hedwiges Maduro made his debut on the Ajax midfield. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax had their best phase early in the second half, with Rafaël van der Vaart instead of Nigel de Jong. The Amsterdammers played well given the conditions and should have dealt the hosts the konock-out blow on one of the open scoring chances they created. A low Rosales cross, for example, was intercepted by Kujovic just before Charisteas could tap home. Minutes later the Argentinian came face to face with Kujovic, but saw the Roda goalie 'steal' the ball off his boot.

At the other end Roda showed that they were not yet beaten: Filipovic's spectacular long range rocket slammed against the cross-bar over Stekelenburg's head. Seven minutes later Ajax paid the penalty for not putting the game out of Roda's reach. Cristiano received the ball with his back to the Ajax goal and decided to try it the artistic way: with a 24-carate 'bicycle kick', which beat Stekelenburg in the low corner: 1-2 (64').

Ajax were in trouble where the game should already have been decided. Krol and Bruins Slot brought on Ryan Babel for Angelos Charisteas. After the game Krol gave the Greek a bit too much credit for his performance, which was alright, but not "fantastic". Even Babel, Ajax's 'boy wonder', failed to convert a couple of 100% scoring opportunities, including one created by an energetic Rafaël van der Vaart. Mauro Rosales also missed another one. Even after Roda's goal Ajax could have wrapped it all up.

But they didn't - and were almost punished for it in the latter minutes of the game, in which Maarten Stekelenburg showed how nervous and shaky he still is when Ajax are under pressure and high crosses come flying in. The best chance for Roda was a header opportunity for a totally unmarked Cristiano, who nodded inches wide. The second half of Roda vs Ajax was an exciting and entertaining affair, with enormous chances at both ends and - eventually - a happy ending for Ajax.

"This was a fantastic collective achievement under very difficult conditions," said Ruud Krol, thereby referring to both Ronald Koeman and 'King Winter'. "Roda away is always a very tough one for us and it wasn't easy to prepare with this game. That's why we decided not to talk to the press for a few days after Koeman resigned, so that we could fully concentrate on this fixture. We should have scored more goals in the second half, but I think this win is a very promising start, with which we can work towards a good future."

Ajax will be okay in the future - no doubt about it. But what about the very near future? Krol and Bruins Slot became the new captains on the H.M.S. Ajax at a very interesting moment: the upcoming week may be regarded as Ajax's very last chance to (more or less) make someting out of this dramatic season. On Wednesday Ajax will play ADO Den Haag in the only competition they can still win: the Amstel Cup. Even more important than winning the cup, however, is the quest for the second slot in the Eredivisie, which will allow Ajax to play qualifiers for the Champions League. The league's #2, Co Adriaanse's AZ, will come to the Amsterdam ArenA next weekend - and, quite obviously, must be beaten in order for Ajax to stay in the race. (MP)

GOALS

• 33' 0-1 Angelos Charisteas
• 42' 0-2 Julien Escudé
• 64' 1-2 Cristiano

Referee: Haverkort
Yellow cards: Senden (Roda JC), Heitinga (Ajax)
Attendance: 17,500

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Heitinga, Escudé, De Jong (46. Van der Vaart); Sneijder (66. Obodai), Maduro, Maxwell; Rosales, Charisteas (72. Babel), Boukhari.

Roda JC line-up: Kujovic; Senden, Kah, Luijpers, Filipovic; Sergio, Vicelich, Bödör (56. Sonko), Colinet (56. Jongen); Cristiano, Koné.

Related Links:

• AjaxTalk Discussion: 27 Feb 2005: Roda JC - Ajax
• Ajax.nl: Match report in Dutch and English