Aloof Ajax squander 0-3 lead at ADO Den Haag

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's departure was an unexpected drain of resources for Ajax, but the Amsterdammers' most worrying weakness does not lie upfront. The man who will have to replace the Swede, Wesley Sonck, scored in the first half and two other offensive Ajacieden did the same. No problems there. Ajax's real problem is the extraordinarily leaky defense. Thirty minutes of messing around in the back allowed the hapless and already beaten home side to fight back from 0-3 to an amazing 3-3. A dramatic flop for the reigning champions, who conceded twelve goals in their first five official games of the season.

"I really am sick about this," said Ajax captain Rafaël van der Vaart. "We should never have given this one away. Dramatic. This simply can't be. But it's the second time it happens. At Twente we got away with it, but now it costs us two points. Unbelievable."

Wesley Sonck scored in the 7th minute. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The most amazing thing was the opponent Ajax allowed to cause such an upset. ADO Den Haag were one of the Eredivisie's weakest sides last season and today they never made the impression of having a higher quality squad this season. Their play, especially in the first half, was pathetic. There were no ideas, no fluent attacks, no chances. They weren't even too physical or determined in the first hour of the game. Annoying little fouls seemed all Den Haag are capable of.

No wonder that Ajax had an unexpectedly easy start in The Hague, where the atmosphere was ugly and grim as ever. Wesley Sonck, the man who needed a goal so badly in his first game as Ajax's new number one striker, required only seven minutes to get what he wanted: Steven Pienaar won the ball in midfield and passed to Sonck, who released a diagonal shot from some 25 yards. Goalkeeper Dorus de Vries probably didn't even see the ball as it skimmed over his fingertips and slammed into the far side netting: 0-1.

Another seven minutes later the three points seemed pocketed, as Nigel de Jong rushed across field and delivered the ball to Steven Pienaar, who (with a little help from a sliding ADO defender) fumbled it under De Vries and into the netting: 0-2. Den Haag seemed to pull a goal back almost immediately, as a free kick unluckily hit Zdenek Grygera's head and forced goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to fully stretch and tip the ball out of the top corner. It was an incident, as ADO Den Haag otherwise seemed paralyzed. The green and yellow are normally known for their aggression, but seemed to have bowed their heads early and just stood around as Rafaël van der Vaart had a free passage to De Vries, but failed. Minutes later the Ajax captain's free kick landed in the goalmouth, where the entire Den Haag defense failed to act and allowed Nourdin Boukhari to tap home: 0-3 (31'). A merciless spanking seemed ahead for the hosts. Ajax were freewheeling.

Wesley Sneijder was part of an offense-minded Ajax midfield. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ronald Koeman's rather surprising line-up seemed succesful! He fielded an ultra-offensive midfield (consisting of Sneijder, Pienaar and Van der Vaart) and the defense line underwent some remarkable changes: Koeman benched Julien Escudé and opted for Heitinga and De Jong in the centre. He also preferred Zdenek Grygera over Anthony Obodai at right fullback.

The first serious test for the Ajax defense arrived in the 44th minute - and they failed miserably. A harmless thru-pass from just outside the penalty box was picked up by striker Rik Platvoet. Stekelenburg's save was fine, but insufficient, as the first man to arrive on the scene was (quite typically) not an Ajax defender, but an Ajax loanee wearing Den Haag's green and yellow: Cedric van der Gun, 1-3.

That goal did not seem to worry Ajax. More goals from the Amsterdammers seemed a matter of time. Shortly after Dorus de Vries had punched Rafaël van der Vaart's artistic chip over the cross-bar, Koeman decided to make 12 September 2004 the day of Mauro Rosales' official début. The Argentinian right winger, hardly recovered from his jetlag, made a superb impression. He tricked Den Haag's Sjaak Polak several times, was intelligent and resolute in combinations and delivered some pristine crosses. A highly promising début indeed. Ajax seem to have landed a perfect right winger.

Several other Ajacieden, however, did not have such a great game. The fact that three of them played in defense would turn out to be fatal. Zdenek Grygera, frequently maligned during his first year at the ArenA, was the only Ajax defender to play well. The performances of Nigel de Jong, Maxwell and particularly John Heitinga, however, were disastrous in the latter half hour of the game. After Boukhari and Pienaar had almost converted fine Rosales crosses, Heitinga brought Cedric van der Gun down in the penalty area, allowing substitute Geert den Ouden to bring Den Haag back into the game from the spot: 3-2 (68').

Although the quality of Ajax's play had now dropped to an embarrassing level, there still seemed no reason panic, simply because Den Haag were too clueless to put Ajax under pressure. Only a miracle, or another 'gift' from Ajax, could lead to a third Den Haag goal. Fortunately for the hosts, Ajax were flabbergastingly generous: the entire Ajax team stood rooted to the spot as Sjaak Polak took a free kick in the 83rd minute. Substitute Roy Stroeve was free as a bird and nodded into the low corner: 3-3 - and finally there was an eruption of positive energy at Zuiderpark stadium. Ajax had 'accomplished' the unthinkable: squandering a 0-3 lead against one of the Eredivisie's weakest. 

Newcomer Rosales replaces Tom de Mul. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Shortly before that referee Ben Haverkort had briefly interrupted the game. The stadium announcer made Haverkort's message public: the anti-Semitic chanting, hurtful yelling about Rafaël van der Vaart's girlfriend (Dutch TV personality Sylvie Meys), monkey imitations when Anthony Obodai touched the ball and the throwing of firecrackers had to stop immediately, or Haverkort would suspend the game permanently. The ugliness continued, but (somehow) wasn't noticed by Haverkort, who also managed to book more Ajacieden than hacking and chopping Den Haag players. 

After the game Ronald Koeman admitted that in this phase he was about to direct his team into the dressing room. The reason for Koeman to change his mind was the scoreline: "You can make such a statement if you're 5-0 up. It would be weak to walk off the pitch when it's 3-2. You can't do that. (...) Is this country rotten to the bone, or what? I've done what I could on the sideline. I told the referee that we just it couldn't go on like this, but he did not react."  

A dramatic loss of points and fan behaviour at its sleaziest (tolerated by the referee). It was not a pleasant afternoon for Ajax, especially because both PSV (1-0 over RKC Waalwijk) and Feyenoord (3-1 over FC Twente) won their games and now have ten points each, whereas Ajax have eight. Also, squandering a 0-3 lead at a Dutch relegation candidate is not exactly the perfect dress rehearsal for a Champions League fixture against Juventus (for whom Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his début and scored his first goal later in the afternoon). The first dribbles and crosses of Mauro Rosales were thin rays of golden sunlight in The Hague, on a bleak Sunday afternoon in The Hague. (MP)

GOALS

• 07'  0-1  Wesley Sonck
• 14'  0-2  Steven Pienaar
• 31'  0-3  Nourdin Boukhari
• 44'  1-3  Cedric van der Gun
• 68'  2-3  Geert den Ouden (penalty)
• 83'  3-3  Roy Stroeve

Referee: Haverkort
Yellow cards: Rijaard, Saveedra (ADO Den Haag), Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Grygera (Ajax)
Attendance: 9,500

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Grygera, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Sneijder (66. Obodai), Pienaar, Van der Vaart; De Mul (62. Rosales), Sonck, Boukhari (83. Anastasiou).

ADO Den Haag line-up: De Vries; Rijaard, Saeijs, Saavedra, Polak; Van der Leegte (75. Akchaoui), Swerts, Bodde (46. Stroeve); Smith, Platvoet (46. Den Ouden), Van der Gun.

Related Links:

• Discussion: Eredivisie games 2004-2005
• Ajax.nl: Match report in Dutch