Ajax collapse in stoppage time: 2-2 against ADO
2 (2) - 2
(0)
Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 21 September, 2005
It was supposed to be a moment of respect and beauty,
but the late 'goodbye' of the Ajax supporters to John
O'Brien and Cristian Chivu was a painful washout: the two
former Ajax defenders walked their 'lap of honour' around the
pitch while the stands were almost entirely deserted by the
bitterly disappointed, dumbfounded home crowd. The ones who
were still there applauded O'Brien and Chivu; the others
couldn't help themselves and had already left the ArenA, where
Ajax are still without a home win in the new season.
When Ajax vs ADO Den Haag pulled into extra time
Ajax had a comfortable and thoroughly deserved 2-0 lead.
The Amsterdammers had played the last half hour with ten men
(substitute John Heitinga was sent off after 60
minutes, the third dismissal of an Ajacied in
three consecutive league games!), but it didn't
really matter. Ajax never got into serious trouble and the
only disappointment was (once again) the team's inefficiency:
their lead should have been considerably bigger than
2-0.
But suddenly, in overtime, it all went dramatically
wrong. Irresolute defending allowed substitute Eljero Elia to
score from close range for the visitors (90+1'),
after which (of all people) on-form Wesley Sneijder
made the fatal mistake. Ajax got a free
kick to take in the fourth (and last) minute of stoppage time.
A mature footballer would have passed it back in order to
maintain possession. Sneijder, however, went for a cross into
Den Haag's penalty area. The ball was cleared, the
very last counter-attack of the game ensued and amidst
complete defensive chaos an unmarked Jan-Paul
Saeijs hammered the equalizer past Hans Vonk, causing
absolute madness in the section of travelling
(and well-behaved!) Den Haag fans: 2-2.
Disappointment on the Ajax bench
after the final whistle:
Vonk, Rosales and Sneijder can not believe
it. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
It was the same old story at the Amsterdam ArenA. In the
first half Ajax played much better than they ever did last
season and seemed to create as many chances as they wanted to
create. After only two minutes a long-range shot by Zdenek
Grygera slipped through goalkeeper Dorus de Vries' fingers. The
Den Haag goalie corrected his error inches before the
goal-line. Three minutes later De Vries punched a mighty
Galásek shot out of his goal and another two minutes
later Mauro Rosales (back in the starting line-up) concluded a
fine run with a shot De Vries couldn't hold on to. A
completely unmarked Angelos Charisteas (who started instead of
Markus Rosenberg) should have converted the rebound,
but he nodded wide.
By the 20th minute it was slowly becoming downright
ridiculous that the score was still 0-0. 12th minute: a low
cross is missed by Charisteas, fired against goalie De Vries
from close range by Ryan Babel and (in the rebound) rocketed
diagonally wide by Sneijder. 13th minute: Zdenek Grygera comes
face to face with De Vries on an Emanuelson thru-pass. The
Czech attempts to score the artistic way (with a turn and a
backheel), but the ball trickles inches wide.
By 'protecting' Markus Rosenberg from the ArenA crowd
and giving Charisteas the nod, Danny Blind more or less
admitted that Ajax have a 'striker problem', but no-one really
worried about that anymore when a defender (Hedwiges
Maduro) and a midfielder (Wesley Sneijder) found the
net well before the half hour mark. Both of Ajax's
goals were of great quality: Sneijder's 'semi bicycle-kick'
from the edge of the penalty box was of even greater beauty
than Maduro's well-taken screamer from more than 20 yards. 2-0
Ajax. No worries at all. ADO Den Haag were overwhelmed.
Outplayed.
The first bad news of the evening arrived a couple
of minutes after Sneijder's stunning strike:
Zdenek Grygera sustained a muscular thigh injury and had
to be replaced with Johnny Heitinga, who demonstrated
for 28 minutes why he does not have a starting slot.
Heitinga lost almost every duel, hardly contributed
anything to Ajax's offensive play and picked up two yellow
cards, for pulling down former Ajax man Michael Mols (39') and,
on the hour, Mols' replacement, Geert den Ouden. Exit Heitinga.
Remarkable statistic: an Ajacied was sent off in each of the
last three league games (Grygera at Willem II,
Lindenbergh at AZ).
After the half-time break one of Ajax's biggest weaknesses
once again manifested itself: just like in Prague and Alkmaar a
wonderful first half was followed by a considerably sloppier
second, although it must be said that Den Haag were almost
never seriously threatening. The only more or less dangerous
moment in the first half was a deflected shot by Jonas Kolkka
(Vonk reacted adequately) and ten minutes after the break
no-one other than John O'Brien showed up in front of Hans Vonk.
The 'American ADO man' couldn't control the ball, so that Vonk
could catch easily.
At the other end, Ryan Babel had two chances to wrap it all
up, but the very best one was for Mauro Rosales, who had a free
passage in the 75th minute but fired wide of De Vries'
goal.
The conclusion is inevitable: at the moment Ajax
simply do not have a striker who can make the difference.
Even the misses of Ryan Babel (the 'Unpredictable One') have
now become predictable. With all due respect: right now,
Ajax's forward line couldn't score to save the planet. Yet, it
seemed a detail on the night. That is: until referee Van
Dongen (who replaced an injured Eric Braamhaar at
half-time and should have penalized several Den
Haag players more heavily for their harsh fouls in the last
fifteen minutes) started adding stoppage time... What an
unbelievable, deeply, deeply frustrating climax it
was. It completely eclipsed the scheduled 'thank yous' to
O'Brien and Chivu.
"Inexplicable," sighed Danny Blind, shaking his head. "The
only thing I can do is to repeat the things I've said when
I started back in March, and have repeated several times since,
namely that there are two things about this team that worry me.
One: we don't score enough goals from the chances we get.
And two: we do not have the maturity to control a game from the
beginning 'til the end."
It is almost impossible for players and fans to
look at the bright side at the moment, so let's just listen to
the words of Cristian Chivu -- and let's all hope that he's
right: "Bogdan Lobont keeps me posted on the situation at Ajax.
I know how much potential the current Ajax squad has. I am
absolutely convinced that Ajax will be back at the
top at some point. It's a top club with top players. The
results may not be that good at the moment, but if they play
like they did against ADO Den Haag in the first half, they
really have a fantastic team."
Added Danny Blind: "We don't have a choice. We have
to move on."
Right then... Two more home games coming up: Roda on
Saturday, Arsenal on Tuesday. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, Highlow.nl
GOALS
- 20' 1-0 Hedwiges
Maduro
- 28' 2-0 Wesley
Sneijder
- 90+1' 2-1 Eljero Elia
- 90+4' 2-2 Jan-Paul Saeijs
Referee: Braamhaar (46. Van Dongen)
Yellow cards: Sneijder, Pienaar (Ajax),
Rijaard, Saeijs, Den Ouden (ADO Den Haag)
Red card: Heitinga (Ajax, 'double yellow',
63')
Attendance: 42,854
Ajax line-up: Vonk; Trabelsi, Maduro,
Grygera (32. Heitinga), Emanuelson; Galásek, Pienaar,
Sneijder; Rosales (94. Boukhari), Charisteas (65. De Jong),
Babel.
ADO Den Haag line-up: De Vries;
Rijaard, Saeijs, Grujic, Rzasa; Rankovic (82. Elia), Van der
Leegte, O'Brien (66. Stroeve); Verhoek, Mols (57. Den Ouden),
Kolkka.
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