Roda revenge for cup defeat: 2-1 in 89th minute
2 (1) - 1
(1)
Eredivisie
Parkstad Limburg Stadium, Kerkrade
Sunday, 02 May, 2006
Roda JC have their revenge on Ajax.
Only a week and a half after an unlikely Huntelaar equalizer in
the last seconds of stoppage time made them crash to the canvas
in the Gatorade Cup, the South Limburg outfit K.O.'d Ajax in
the Eredivisie in similar style: Roda vs Ajax at Kerkrade's
Parkstad Limburg Stadium had '1-1' written all over it, but in
the 89th minute substitute Edrissa Sonko decided the game in
the hosts' favour (2-1) for Ajax's first ever defeat at the
'PLS' and their first defeat to Roda since March 2000.
The most discussed man after the
game, however, was not Sonko but referee Roelof Luinge,
who turned the game into one of his infamous
'Luinge shows'. The foundation for a very tumultuous
second half was laid at the end of a reasonable first
half: Luinge added one minute of stoppage time, which had
already ticked away entirely when Roda got to take a corner
kick. Roda were able to cause unrest in the Ajax goalmouth for
another 40 seconds. The ball was kicked forward by the
Ajax defense and no less than
three Ajacieden suddenly had a completely
free passage to goalkeeper Kujovic. But then Luinge
whistled for half-time. The Ajax players were outraged and
so was coach Danny Blind, who - according to Luinge -
was unacceptably abusive and sent to the stands. Blind
denies that his language was bad.
Goalkeeper Kujovic intercepts
before Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar can become dangerous. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
In the second half Luinge seemed to
get into something of a personal feud with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
The Ajax striker was constantly whistled against, even when he
wasn't even involved in the play. Halfway the second half
Huntelaar was kicked down in the penalty area by Pa-Modou Kah.
A downright dirty foul, for which a penalty should have been
given. Luinge didn't see a foul and even allowed Kah
and Roda captain Gregoor van Dijk to stand over Huntelaar and
yell at him for a few seconds. In the 78th minute, finally,
Luinge showed the red card to Juanfran after a seemingly
normal duel with Van Dijk. The Spaniard had kicked his
opponent, according to Luinge. TV footage made clear that
Luinge was overreacting a little bit, to say the very
least.
Indeed, Ajax had reasons to be
extremely unhappy with Mr. Luinge's performance. After the
game, Danny Blind made the mistake to sum up (on TV) all
the games in which Ajax were confronted
with bad calls from the referee. Even though his
examples were factual, he should not have done this. No doubt
the Dutch press will derisively put him into his place on
Monday morning and depict him as a man who - out of
pure desperation - starts to see this season's Ajax as
victims and can no longer control his frustration.
Even though the Ajax boss was right
about Roelof Luinge in this particular case, the picture the
press will surely paint of Blind is not incorrect. There
are more fundamental questions the Ajax coach should ask
himself, such as: why are Ajax still playing so poorly?
Why are they still not a team? Why did Ajax lose
no less than 10 Eredivisie games (the last time that happened
was in 1964-1965)? In February and early March Ajax won five
times in a row, against the Eredivisie's very
weakest. After their 6-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam
(05 March) followed five games without a win. The only team out
of the top seven of the Eredivisie that Ajax managed to beat
(once) is FC Groningen.
It must be said: Ajax's first half
in the pouring rain of Kerkrade wasn't bad. The Amsterdammers
converted their very first chance: Mauro Rosales' superb cross
from the right was headed home by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for his
30th goal of the season and his 13th in 13 games as Ajacied
(18'). Stunning figures. In the remainder of the first
half Ajax should have scored another goal. In the 33rd minute a
fine low cross by Rosales (who had a very good first half)
was hammered against the cross-bar by Huntelaar, whereas
Nourdin Boukhari fired just over Kujovic's goal on a perfect
little thru-pass by... of course, Mauro Rosales.
The only other Ajacied
to score in the first half was Olaf Lindenbergh, but the
goalkeeper he beat was not Kujovic, but Maarten Stekelenburg.
Lindenbergh could not see Cristiano's cross from the right
flank coming and before he knew it bounced off his right foot
and into his own net: 1-1 (27').
Ajax players are furious when
referee Luinge whistles
for half-time, just when three Ajacieden had a free passage...
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
... and so is Danny Blind,
who would follow the second half
from the stands due to "unacceptable remarks". [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
The second half, with Danny Blind
watching from the stands and Ruud Krol and Gerard van der Lem
coaching Ajax, was a different story. Ajax's passing became
increasingly sloppy, there were no ideas, no chances, no
passion. Roda, in their turn, did not create much either,
but definitely more than Ajax. In the 56th minute, for example,
Sekou Cissé came close to scoring on a low cross from
the left. Stekelenburg and Trabelsi saved with a bit
of luck.
Ajax's only quality moment was a
good rush across midfield from an otherwise dramatically
poor Hedwiges Maduro. After a fine one-two Maduro fired
straight into Kujovic's arms.
In spite of Ajax's annoyance
with Roelof Luinge and the Juanfran and Huntelaar
incidents, the game never really became unfriendly. The
players seemed to treat each other with respect. The second
half was actually a rather tepid affair and a final score of
1-1 seemed ahead. But no: in the 89th minute Ajax's were
painfully exposed at the back. Edrissa Sonko sneaked
through the lines, received the thru-pass at exactly the
right moment and tapped the ball past Maarten Stekelenburg:
2-1. Roda had their revenge and celebrated the win as if they'd
just clinched the championship.
Another defeat. Utrecht beat
RKC and are now four points ahead of Ajax. The
4th slot on the table seems out of reach. As for the
teams breathing down Ajax's neck: Groningen won and now have
the same number of points as Ajax (who have a
better goal-differential). Heerenveen could have
leapfrogged the Amsterdammers, but lost to
NEC. Conclusion: Ajax are still 5th. They can still
qualify for the play-offs and, eventually, for the Champions
League...
Question is: what would that
really mean? Would this Ajax team belong
in the Champions League? Would they even
deserve it? Would they stand a chance in the play-offs
against three teams (probably AZ, Feyenoord and Utrecht) they
didn't manage a single win against this season? Indeed, Ajax
are 'still in the race', but only because the KNVB changed
the format of the Eredivisie this season. Every
other season would already have been a complete
nightmare, without the 'emergency exit' of the play-offs. Danny
Blind has made his point about the referees. Now it's time
to critically analyze his own achievements. If
he doesn't do it, the management will surely do it
for him. (MP)
GOALS
- 18' 0-1 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
- 27' 1-1 Olaf Lindenbergh (own goal)
- 89' 2-1 Edrissa Sonko
Referee: Luinge
Yellow cards: Bodor, Senden, Cristiano (Roda
JC)
Red card: Juanfran (Ajax, 78')
Miscellaneous: coach Danny Blind (Ajax)
dismissed during half-time break
Attendance: 16,200
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi,
Maduro, Vermaelen, Juanfran; Galásek, Lindenbergh,
Boukhari; Rosales (80. Sarpong), Huntelaar (86. Charisteas),
Rosenberg (61. Babel).
Roda JC line-up: Kujovic; Senden
(74. Leemans), Saeijs, Kah, Lachambre; Van Dijk, Cziommer,
Sergio, Bodor (90. Voigt); Cristiano (76. Sonko),
Cissé.
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