Anastasiou saves Ajax against De Graafschap: 1-0
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Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 24 April , 2005
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One day after the unstoppable PSV had officially clinched
the championship by beating Vitesse (3-0), Ajax grabbed
three points against lowly De Graafschap that will most
likely secure the second slot on the table for the
Amsterdammers. The reason for that: AZ's stumble at RKC
Waalwijk on Saturday. The Alkmaar club's defeats at
Feyenoord and Ajax could be described as 'accidents', but
now it can no longer be denied: AZ are falling apart (only one
point out of the last five games) and seem to have let
go of the second slot, desperately attempting to re-charge
their batteries one more time for their UEFA Cup semi-finals
against Sporting Lisbon.
So, it was a good weekend for Ajax. That is: if you look at
the results. The 48,707 people who actually bought a
ticket to see the red and white in action against the
#17 of the Eredivisie, however, are not to be envied. They
were once again bored to tears by a totally uninspired and
clueless Ajax team. In fact, most of them were just
about to accept a new loss of points in what is already a
historically poor season in home games, when substitute
Yannis Anastasiou stepped forward and placed his head against a
desperate long cross from Julien Escudé: 1-0, only four
minutes before game's end. It wasn't the first time for Ajax to
win a miserable game in the dying minutes.
The Greek veteran, a loyal sub and tremendously popular in
the Ajax dressing-room, did not hesitate a second and ran to
team-manager David Endt (seated behind the opponent's goal as
usual), who gave Anastasiou the #5 jersey of Maxwell.
The Brazilian
snapped his ACL in Tilburg on Thursday and will be battling
for recovery for the rest of 2005. Anastasiou and the
rest of the Ajax team held his jersey up as a tribute.
This goal was for you, Maxwell!
Daniel de Ridder and former
Ajacied, Milan Berck Beelenkamp. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Ajax's play in the 85 minutes before Anastasiou's liberating
strike was - once again - appalling. It no longer came as a
shock to the supporters. Let's face it: only one
Ajax home game in this season's Eredivisie was really
good (the one against AZ). The rest was 'alright' at the very
best (NAC, RBC), whereas the Amsterdammers had more
than just a couple of deeply embarrassing stinkers
against some of the Eredivisie's weakest sides: 0-0
against ADO Den Haag, a hard-fought 1-0 against NEC, a
last-minute win of (eventually) 2-0 over FC Den
Bosch... Ajax never really convinced in home
games against poor opposition.
The game against De Graafschap was no exception. Coach Danny
Blind had to field two unusual fullbacks (Heitinga and
Emanuelson) in place of Trabelsi and Maxwell. But that was no
excuse for Ajax's complete lack of determination and pace in
the first half. More than ever Ajax brought themselves into
trouble by taking the pitch with a poor attitude and a
lack of genuine concentration against an opponent so
miserable that Hans Vonk might as well have the taken the day
off. The visitors from Doetinchem were never close to
scoring, but Ajax hardly caused danger at the other
end of the pitch, either. Grygera (header) and Sneijder
(shot) had scoring opportunities in the first fifteen
minutes, but the only truly noteworthy moment of the
first half arrived in the 29th minute: Nigel de Jong headed the
ball past goalkeeper Jim van Fessem. After having pushed his
opponent down, according to referee Sterk. Goal disallowed. Not
an unfair call.
De Graafschap weren't even well organized. They were never
in possession for more than two or three passes, and allowed
Ajax all the time in the world to build up. 'Determined'
was a more appropriate adjective for their defense than
'solid'. Ajax had the possession and the
space, but were utterly incapable of doing something with it.
The only time Ajax created the space for a team-mate to
dangerously advance was in the 34th minute - and De
Graafschap panicked instantly. Defender Dejan Kalezic had to
bring Wesley Sneijder down from behind and was red carded by
referee Sterk. Eleven against ten for almost an
hour... Ajax just had to be able to find an
opening now...
Ajax players hold up Maxwell's
shirt in tribute. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
But they hardly were. Danny Blind replaced left
fullback Urby Emanuelson (it was his
first appearance as a starter) with right winger
Daniël de Ridder, so that Ajax started the second half in
an ultra-offensive 3-4-3 formation. It made it even
more shocking to see how they were totally unable
to hurt De Graafschap, who slowly
started believing in a result (in a result of 0-0, to be
precise, as the 'Super Farmers' still didn't have the
intention to move forward).
The Amsterdam crowd got increasingly frustrated with their
team and the linesman, who stuck his flag up in
the air almost every time Ajax kicked the ball forward. A
handful of his calls were questionable at the very
least, but it was no excuse for the fact that
Ajax failed to find openings in a 'wall' consisting
of only nine De Graafschap outfield players. Blind
brought on Angelos Charisteas for Nicolae Mitea, so that Ryan
Babel (terrible as a center forward) could move to the left
wing. When the youngster continued to fail at that
position, Blind replaced him with Yannis
Anastasiou, reverting to a sort of 4-4-2 formation with
the two Greeks up front and three offensive midfielders
behind them.
Although Ajax's play would remain dreadful until
the final whistle, it must be said that the Amsterdammers
did become more threatening in that formation.
Charisteas was everything but impressive as a team player,
but his fine header went inches wide (71')
and his beautiful volley from the edge of the penalty
box hit the post (84'). The Greek actually
scored in the 62nd minute, but he was off-side when he
gave Ryan Babel's attempt the decisive push. The
linesman was right this time, whereas Charisteas could not
be blamed: Babel's attempt would not have gone in without
the Greek's deflection.
The pressure increased after the arrival of Yannis
Anastasiou, who also had a goal disallowed (a
beautiful backward volley into the far side netting
in the 84th minute; this time the goal should have
stood) before he headed home for Ajax's last-gasp winner
in a match that would have been Ajax's worst in any
'normal' season. This season, however, it was just another
terrible one. The fans have lost count and were reminded
of the fact that there may be a reason or two to
be optimistic about the future under Danny Blind, but that Ajax
still have a very long way to go.
Danny Blind, realistic as always, was the first to admit it:
"We're happy with the three points. Those are very important in
our quest for second place and qualification for the Champions
League. But our play did not please me at all. After the
euphoria of recent weeks this game shows that there still is a
lot of work to do. Which, by the way, is not that strange. We
need some time to grow."
Ajax are now four points clear of AZ and six of Feyenoord.
Which should be enough given Ajax's schedule for the remaining
weeks of the season: next up are an away game
against another relegation candidate (RBC Roosendaal, who lost
7-1 to Heerenveen this weekend...) and a home game
against a team with nothing left to play
for (RKC Waalwijk). Under normal circumstances Ajax
wouldn't give it away anymore. But what are 'normal
circumstances'...? This season can hardly be described as
'normal'. In the words of Steven Pienaar: "In theory the
last four games are not that tough.
But beforehand, the same thing kind of went
for this home game against De Graafschap." (MP)
GOAL
- 86' 1-0 Yannis Anastasiou
Referee: Sterk
Yellow cards: Sneijder (Ajax), Bot (De
Graafschap)
Red card: Kalezic (De Graafschap, 34')
Attendance: 48,707
Ajax line-up: Vonk; Heitinga, Grygera,
Escudé, Emanuelson (46. De Ridder); De Jong, Maduro,
Sneijder; Pienaar, Babel (75. Anastasiou), Mitea (57.
Charisteas).
De Graafschap line-up: Van Fessem;
Bot, Kalezic, Bus, Berck Beelenkamp; Vandenbroeck, Leerdam, De
Graef, Valeev (68. Ten Brinke); Zongo (52., Roelofsen), Van
Beukering (74. Magno).
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