Superior Ajax 'forget' to beat Sparta Prague: 1-1

1 (0) - 1 (0)
Champions League
Toyota Arena, Prague, Czech Republic
Wednesday, 14 September, 2005

"It's terribly bitter that we have to be happy with a point here, in the end," was Danny Blind's slightly cynical comment after Ajax's first Champions League group game of the season at Sparta Prague's Toyota Arena. He was all too right: Ajax played one of their best European games of the past 24 months or so, played the Czech hosts off the park in the first half (in which Ajax had an amazing 70% possession!) and should have scored two goals at the very least when Miroslav Matusovic's stunning 20-yard screamer gave Sparta Prague an unlikely 1-0 lead in the 66th minute. Just when an extremely bitter and undeserved defeat seemed inevitable, Wesley Sneijder came to rescue with a fantastic shot from outside of the penalty box, in the first minute of stoppage time, which gave Ajax the goal they had simply 'refused' to score for 90 minutes: 1-1.

Tomás Galásek in action in his fatherland. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax expected a very tough game in Prague. A draw? That would not be such a bad result against the solid Czech champions. After the game, however, the only right conclusion was that a far superior Ajax side should have beaten the Czechs by a lightyear and that they had 'forgotten' to leave the Toyota Arena with the full three points. Markus Rosenberg, in particular, had at least three excellent chances to score in the first half. The Swede played well, but should definitely have netted when a Wesley Sneijder thru-pass put him face-to-face with goalkeeper Blazek in the 29th minute. His shot went inches wide of the far post. Ten minutes earlier an unmarked Rosenberg totally missed a low Steven Pienaar cross. In the fifth minute, Blazek failed to hold on to a Sneijder shot, after which Steven Pienaar was a split-second late for the rebound.

After half an hour of almost unbelievable Ajax dominance, two things were clear: Sparta Prague were not as solid in defense as Ajax had expected and, secondly, they were hardly dangerous in counter-attack, either. The Czechs produced only two long range shots that went yards over or wide of Hans Vonk's goal, who was never in serious trouble in the first half. Even the two experienced, creative midfielders of the home side, Poborsky and Zelenka, were never really in the game.

Ajax, playing with the same eleven as last Saturday at Willem II (including Tomás Galásek and Olaf Lindenbergh), looked mature, solid, self-assured and determined in the first half. It was remarkable that last Saturday's 'Man of the Match', Tomás Galásek, was arguably the only slightly disappointing Ajacied in the first half. Almost everybody else played reasonably well at the very least.

A typical image: Ajax (represented by Sneijder and Maduro)
attack, Sparta Prague battle to remain upright. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The Amsterdammers continued to play well in the opening phase of the second half and should once again have taken the lead in the 51st minute, as goalkeeper Blazek rushed out of his area to clear a long Emanuelson pass with the head. He nodded it straight to Wesley Sneijder, who suddenly had the chance to chip the ball into Sparta's deserted goal. He fired a bit too hastily and saw his attempt go wide.

An hour of impressively dominant football in a Champions League away game... It's been a long time. However, the score-board still said 0-0 after 60 minutes and the first phase in which Sparta Prague seriously moved forward immediately gave them the lead. After Karel Poborsky had fired a free-kick into the Ajax 'wall' from a very dangerous position (59') and substitute Miroslav Matusovic's nasty shot was pushed against the inside of the post by Hans Vonk, Tomás Galásek's poor clearance of a Sparta corner kick provided Matusovic with a shooting opportunity from some 20 yards. He hit it perfectly for a 24-carate screamer that slammed into the top corner. An absolutely spectacular goal: 1-0 (66').

"What a world-class strike that was," admitted Danny Blind, who then added: "He will score only one goal like that in his whole life."

Quite typically for Ajax's over-all performance, the Amsterdammers created a pristine scoring chance only two minutes thereafter: Ryan Babel, who had his best performance in weeks, received the ball on the edge of the penalty box but saw his shot go wide via the outside of the post.

It would have made no sense to change the tactical system or to throw in extra strikers, for the simple reason that Ajax played well. The system worked perfectly. Nothing really had to change; all they had to do was score. Blind decided to replace two players with a sub that simply took over at the same position: Charisteas for Rosenberg and Rosales for Pienaar. After fifteen minutes of slightly sloppier play Ajax shifted to the highest gear in the latter fifteen minutes of the game. The Amsterdammers got to take a series of corner kicks, but had increasing trouble to create real chances.

And, just when the large (and quite vocal!) Dutch contingent on the stands seemed to have accepted the bitter and frustrating stumble, there was Wesley Sneijder, with a liberating, furious strike from the edge of the penalty box, which nicely curled out of Blazek's reach and into the near corner: 1-1 (90+1'). Needless to say that an equalizer was the very, very least Ajax deserved. Angelos Charisteas could actually have given Ajax the win in the the third minute of overtime, but he was in a tight angle and hit the side netting.

Sneijder, after the game: "We are a bit disappointed. We should have wrapped it all up in the first half. It could have been a done deal at half-time. We never expected to get this many chances in a European away game. I guess it's a positive thing that we created them."

The Ajax faithful have no other choice than to look at the bright side: if Ajax continue to play this well a good result should be very well possible on Sunday, in the second domestic top fixture in the first four games, at Louis van Gaal's AZ Alkmaar. (MP)

GOALS

66' 1-0 Miroslav Matusovic
90+1' 1-1 Wesley Sneijder

Referee: Larsen (Denmark)
Yellow card: Galásek (Ajax)
Attendance: 15,386

Ajax line-up: Vonk; Trabelsi, Maduro, Grygera, Emanuelson; Galásek (90+3. Heitinga), Sneijder, Lindenbergh; Pienaar (81. Rosales), Rosenberg (76. Charisteas), Babel.

AC Sparta Praha line-up: Blazek; Pospech, Petrás, Lukás, Kadlec; Kisel, Sivok, Polácek (79. Dosek), Poborsky, Zelenka; Slepicka (49. Matusovic).