AZ and Ajax settle for lively 0-0 draw

Although Ajax did not entirely wash away the bitter taste of Tuesday's dramatic visit to Bayern München, a goalless draw at AZ was a result both sides could very well live with. Just like last season AZ vs Ajax was an exciting and manly match of football between two teams that wanted to win (and had the chances to do so), but were too well-organized to give many chances away. And even if they did there were two outstanding goalkeepers: Bogdan Lobont and Henk Timmer. Both kept a clean sheet.

 
Johnny Heitinga battles with AZ's Meerdink. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Tuesday's historic 4-0 pasting in Germany had a major impact in Amsterdam, where Ronald Koeman and Louis van Gaal collided head-on about the club's ambitions and to which extent they were realistic. Koeman also made a clear statement to his players. Normally the starting line-up for a game can be roughly determined by seeing which players wear coloured smocks in the last training game. This week, however, the players couldn't make head nor tail of the normally revealing 'smock distribution'. The message was clear: the Bayern result has changed everything. No-one has the right to assume anything whatsoever.

It was an eventful week in many ways, but in Alkmaar it turned out that not too much has changed: Koeman is still Ajax's head-coach and the only surprising thing about his line-up was the fact that Wesley Sneijder started on the bench. "Oh well," said Koeman. "We play with three midfielders and one of them, for balance, will always be Galásek. Which means that out of Pienaar, Van der Vaart and Sneijder only two can play. That's all." Wingers Tom De Mul and Nourdin Boukhari also lost their respective slots, to Mauro Rosales and Nicolae Mitea, but that was Koeman's plan all along.

As for AZ: the Alkmaar outfit pulled into the group stage of the UEFA Cup this week after two remarkably convincing wins over PAOK Saloniki from Greece. The side of former Ajax boss Co Adriaanse has developed into an excellent Eredivisie team: offensive, well-organized, aggressive but fair and a major threat to any of the traditional 'Big Three' of Dutch football, especially in home games. However, they played a UEFA Cup game on Thursday - and therefore had only two days to prepare for Ajax.

Both teams did not exactly have the perfect preparations, but it never showed on the pitch, where they took one another on from the very first to the very last whistle. Thanks to outstanding midfielders Denny Landzaat and Barry van Galen AZ were the better team in the first half. Van Galen even found the net in the 17th minute, as he intercepted Nigel de Jong's rather thoughtless attempt to whack the ball away through the middle. Van Galen nicely chipped the ball over Lobont, but according to referee Van Hulten he intercepted it with his arm - and he was right.

It wasn't the only moment of excitement in the first half. The best chance was for AZ striker Kenneth Perez, who reacted alertly as Bogdon Lobont failed to hold on to a Martijn Meerdink cross. The Dane picked up the ball, turned around and fired - straight into the arms of Bogdan Lobont, who was back on his feet just in time. Stijn Huysegems also had an open scoring chance, penetrating Lobont's penalty box from the left, but he didn't hit the ball right and saw his shot go diagonally wide. Martijn Meerdink had a similar opportunity three minutes later, this time coming from the right. His shot was better: Lobont had to stretch to tip it past the far post.

The best chances in the first 45 minutes were for the home side, but Ajax also had their moments. Mauro Rosales seemed on his way to Henk Timmer in the 22nd minute, but was pulled down from behind by Tim de Cler. A penalty...? It sure looked like one, but referee Van Hulten did not think so. And there was thundering Johnny Heitinga shot from some 20 yards, which Henk Timmer beautifully punched out of the top corner (39').

After the break it was almost exactly the other way round: Ajax dominated and had their best phase in the first fifteen minutes of the second half, in which two deft thru-passes by Mauro Rosales put Steven Pienaar and Yannis Anastasiou on a free passage to Henk Timmer. Both failed. Anastasiou (who played fairly well as Ajax's central forward) also came close to scoring on a Nourdin Boukhari cross, after a beautifully quick one-two with Nicolae Mitea. At the near post the Greek fired the ball into the side netting from close range.

Former Ajacied Tim de Cler battles with Mauro Rosales. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The situation was the perfect opposite of the first half: Ajax were in control now, but AZ remained dangerous. In the 60th minute Maxwell arrived in the nick of time to terminate Stijn Huysegems' rush towards Lobont. And one minute later Tim de Cler released an even more beautiful shot than Heitinga's first half attempt. Bogdan Lobont's save was pristine.

A goal could have been scored at either end. Until the 69th minute, that is, in which AZ paid the price for a wild and blatantly stupid foul by substitute Kew Jaliens. Referee Van Hulten had already whistled for a foul near the sideline as Jaliens stormed in and mowed Van der Vaart down from behind. There was no other option for Van Hulten than to show the defender the red card. Jaliens claimed that he hadn't heard Van Hulten's whistle. An irrelevant excuse: he deserved a dismissal for this assault anyway - whistle or no whistle.

Remarkably, Ajax's pressure did not increase after AZ had been reduced to ten men, in spite of the arrival of Sneijder and Boukhari (replacing Pienaar and Mitea). AZ never came close to scoring, but at the other end Ajax failed to create chances as well. The only dangerous moment was a break over the left flank in the last minute. Nourdin Boukhari should have pulled back to one of the Ajax forwards in the box, but decided to shoot himself. The ball disappeared into the visitors section, almost empty as Ajax supporters boycotted the obligatory 'combi' bus trip to Alkmaar (only some 150 Ajax supporters ignored the boycott organized by the Independent Ajax Fanclub).

"The first half was for AZ," admitted Ajax boss Ronald Koeman after the game. "But we should have scored in the first 25 minutes of the second. All in all I can't blame my team for anything today. They battled hard. They always should, you'd say, but you don't always have the players for that at Ajax. I think this was a very exciting game against a very good AZ team. We've lost two points, but our play was rather promising. I enjoyed this one. We will win most of our games if we continue to play like this."

Koeman and Co Adriaanse addressing the media after the match. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

For the time being PSV (3-1 against Groningen), Feyenoord (4-2 against Den Bosch) and FC Utrecht (3-2 against RKC Waalwijk) took full advantage in their repsective home games against modest opposition. On the other hand, whether they will remain upright in Alkmaar is yet to be seen. For now, however, Ajax are fourth in the Eredivisie - and will remain so for at least two weeks, as there will be no Eredivisie football next weekend, due to World Cup qualifiers. (MP)

NO GOALS

Referee: Van Hulten
Yellow card: Meerdink (AZ), Rosales (Ajax)
Red card: Jaliens (AZ, 69')
Attendance: 7,687

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Galásek, Pienaar (78. Sneijder), Van der Vaart; Rosales, Anastasiou (63. Sonck), Mitea (78. Boukhari).

AZ line-up: Timmer; Kromkamp, Mathijsen, Opdam (61. Jaliens), De Cler; Landzaat, Buskermolen, Van Galen (67. Sektioui); Meerdink, Huysegems, Perez (70. Ramzi).

Related Links

• Ajax.nl: Match report in Dutch and English