Ajax book hard-fought win at ever-hostile Zuiderpark: 1-2
1 (1) - 2
(1)
Eredivisie
Zuiderpark Stadium, The Hague
Sunday, 12 February, 2006
When referee Roelof Luinge blew his whistle at 12:30
CET and set the match in motion, it was already sure that
the February 2006 edition of ADO Den Haag vs
Ajax was not going to be remembered for anything that
would happen in the two hours thereafter. Instead, it
will be remembered as "that game with no Ajax supporters in
attendance". They were banned from the match due to Friday
evening's
hooligan attack on the supporters' home of
the club from the Residence, the umpteenth tragic low
point in a long history of violence between the hooligan
firms of the two clubs.
No Ajax fans in the visitors section, an impressive army of
riot police around the ground and an even more
intimidating and grim atmosphere at Zuiderpark Stadium than
usual... Yet, after the game the police were
satisfied: the only violence on match day was the usual
'verbal violence'. Twenty-two football players battled for 90
minutes, under a shower rain, snow and chants about
Yids, Hamas, the Holocaust, cancer and other fatal diseases,
whores, sexual promiscuity and what not. Welcome to
ADO Den Haag vs Ajax. Feel free to bring your children...
This was a game of football to forget. As soon as possible.
For various reasons.
Ajax started without midfielders Sneijder and
Galásek, who are recovering from their respective
injuries hamstring, so that Hedwiges Maduro moved a line
forward, John Heitinga returned to the starting
eleven and Olaf Lindenbergh wore the captain's armband
from the start, making for an Ajax team that should be capable
of easily beating ADO Den Haag, the current #16
of the Eredivisie, who lost their previous seven games
straight and failed to grab a single point in the
year 2006 so far.
Against the run of play, Grygera
opened the scoring for Ajax. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
But that - as every Ajax fan will know by now - is not the
reality of Ajax's 2005-2006 season. Ajax struggle against
every opponent and their visit to The Hague was no
exception. In fact, the Amsterdammers were painfully outplayed
in the first half hour. The two great men for the home side
were speedy right winger Eljero Elia,
who repeatedly raced past Urby
Emanuelson in the opening phase, and veteran striker
Michael Mols (a product of the Ajax youth system). The latter
was the by far best man on the pitch in the first half. Mols
seemed to be everywhere at the same time, was always available
to receive the ball, held it up well and always did
something smart and offensive with it. Ajax's
midfielders and central defenders couldn't get the skillful
veteran under control.
Mols could already have scored in the 25th minute, after
a quick one-two with Roy Stroeve. His shot
beat Maarten Stekelenburg but only hit the inside of the
post. Less than five minutes later Ajax were a goal
up, which they absolutely didn't deserve at that
point. The visitors had not created a proper chance yet
and their goal was scored, quite typically, from a set
piece. Markus Rosenberg smartly lured Den Haag's
defenders to the near post on Olaf Lindenbergh's free kick, but
the Swede didn't touch the ball so that Zdenek Grygera
could tap home at the far post for his first goal of the
season: 0-1 (30').
Not for the first time this year (Twente away... Utrecht at
home...) the opposition struck back almost
immediately. Den Haag's outbreak across midfield was almost
identical as the one in the 25th minute, but this time Michael
Mols' shot was perfect: 1-1 (33'). Where were Ajax's defensive
midfielders when Kolkka and Mols rushed across
midfield with the ball...? Why didn't any of the
defenders step forward to attack Mols...? And
how in the world was it possible that Maarten Stekelenburg got
beaten in the corner he should have had covered (the 'near-post
corner'), by a low shot from well outside the penalty
area...? Den Haag's goal was yet another perfect
example of flabbergastingly poor defending by Ajax.
Perhaps it was a good thing that Ajax conceded the
equalizer, though: it had the effect of a wake-up call.
Ajax picked themselves up in the latter minutes of the first
half and, it must be said, played considerably better after the
break. Only ten minutes of reasonable Ajax football were enough
for the second goal, and it was almost identical to Den Haag's
first half equalizer. Olaf Lindenbergh must have been
surprised that no Den Haag midfielder attacked him when
he rushed across the middle line. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
did not hesitate when he received Lindenbergh's smart
little thru-pass and released a well-aimed, low
shot from some 20 yards: 1-2 (55').
Maduro congratulates Huntelaar on his decisive goal. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Once again Ajax hardly deserved the lead, but by the 80th
minute this had changed. Den Haag had to replace Michael Mols,
their superb pivot between defense and attack, which turned out
to be a major drain on ADO resources. Ajax could have
decided the game between the 55th and 80th minutes. Markus
Rosenberg's 63rd minute attempt from outside of the box
hit the post and almost caramboled into the goal-line via
the back of goalkeeper Drobny's head. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar came
in scoring position no less than three times, but each
time the linesman sticked his flag up in the air.
Amazingly, slow motion replays on TV showed that
the good man was blatantly mistaken on all
three occasions.
Ajax failed to net a decisive third and - just
when you were about to conclude that the
Amsterdammers deserved their lead by now - started to
mess about in sometimes incredible fashion. Ajax
could have easily collapsed during the so-called
Haags kwartiertje, as the Den Haag fans call the
latter fifteen minutes of every game (in which they frequently
score, according to the myth). The home side kept
opportunistically rocketing the ball into the Ajax
goalmouth, where unrest and chaos prevailed. Johnny
Heitinga and Urby Emanuelson came to rescue a few times,
whereas Maarten Stekelenburg saved his team by denying
Paulus Roiha (88'). It was an absolute sitter for the
Finnish Den Haag man -- and he wasn't the only Den Haag
player to come close to scoring in the dying minutes. It was
shocking and deeply worrying to see how Ajax were utterly
incapably of closing the shop for a minute or five against
the league's #16.
It was narrow and slightly fortunate escape, in the end, but
all that coach Danny Blind had to offer after the game was his
usual mantra: it's all about the points right now, "no
matter how you look at it, this will give us confidence."
But how much reason to be confident is there, really?
Alright: Ajax booked two wins in a row and climbed from 8th to
5th on the Eredivisie table, but what does that really
mean, looking at the way in which the Amsterdammers
squeaked past the #17 (Willem II) and #16 (Den Haag) of the
Eredivisie...? Next weekend the league's #18, RBC Roosendaal,
come to the Amsterdam ArenA, a team still
waiting for its first win of the season. Fair chance
that Ajax will manage another win. This series of
three games against the Eredivisie's very
weakest will have to give Ajax enough 'confidence'
(?) for an at least dignified performance against
Internazionale in the quarter final of the Champions League.
(MP)
GOALS
- 30' 0-1 Zdenek Grygera
- 33' 1-1 Michael Mols
- 55' 1-2 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Referee: Luinge
Yellow cards: Rosenberg,
Grygera (Ajax), Bakkati, Stroeve (ADO Den
Haag)
Attendance: 8,600
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Heitinga,
Grygera, Vermaelen, Emanuelson; Maduro, Lindenbergh, Sarpong
(84. Boukhari); Rosales, Huntelaar, Rosenberg.
ADO Den Haag line-up: Drobny;
Bakkati, Grujic (68. Kum), Saavedra, El Akchaoui; Bodde,
Stroeve, Rzasa (78. De Graaf); Elia, Mols (54. Roiha),
Kolkka.
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