Ajax beat Sparta as Eredivisie heads for 'photo finish'
5 (3) - 2
(1)
Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 22 April, 2007
More than 50,000 Ajax supporters at the Amsterdam ArenA had
already celebrated five Ajax goals, but the loudest roar of the
day followed when the final score against Sparta Rotterdam
(5-2) was already on the boards, a few minutes before the
final whistle: FC Utrecht's Alje Schut had scored a late
equalizer (1-1) against PSV. Meanwhile, AZ were beating SC
Heerenveen in Alkmaar (3-1), so that an unlikely scenario
was now unfolding: with only one match left to play AZ,
Ajax and PSV have 72 points. The craziest, most
exciting Eredivisie season ever will get the photo
finish it deserves.
In all honesty: if you wish to place a
bet, it definitely is the best idea to put your
money on AZ. Louis van Gaal's team has a goal-differential
of +53 (six better than Ajax, seven better than
PSV) and they're up against Excelsior, a team
already condemned to post-season relegation play-offs. The last
game of the 'regular' season is of no importance to
Excelsior. Ajax (+47) play Willem II (15th and
'safe') in Tilburg, while PSV (+46) play Vitesse (12th
and 'finished') at Philips Stadium
in Eindhoven.
Ogararu brought balance to the attack, but was inexplicably
substituted for Kenneth Perez. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
It might all come down to goal-differential, which
explains why Ajax's 5-2 win over Sparta Rotterdam
was, at the end of the day, slightly disappointing,
especially the two goals the Amsterdammers conceded. It should
(and could) have been more, if only because Ajax had a meteoric
start. Three minutes after having hit the cross-bar,
Wesley Sneijder's received the ball on the left flank, cut
to the middle and fired with his right into the far corner: 1-0
(09'). The stadium announcer thought that Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar had given Sneijder's shot a decisive push and gave
the credit to the striker, but he corrected himself during
the half-time break: it was Sneijder who scored.
17th minute: John Heitinga's superb pass is beautifully
controlled by Ryan Babel, who dribbles towards Sparta's goal
from the left and perfectly pulls the ball back for an
onstorming Wesley Sneijder: bang, 2-0. Four minutes later:
free-kick from Sneijder, good movement from Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar, who flicks the ball first-time and into the net for
his 20th goal of the season: 3-0, after only 21 minutes of
action. Ajax needed goals - and they were scoring them without
mercy. The Amsterdammers were on a roll. The visitors
from Rotterdam were gasping for breath.
Henk ten Cate decided to replace one of his defenders,
George Ogararu, with Kenneth Perez: an extra forward, an
extra man who can score a goal. Not a bad idea, you'd say...
but, to cut a long story short, it didn't work. In fact: it
unbalanced the team completely: Wesley Sneijder and Kenneth
Perez were in each other's way, Perez had a stinker anyway and
Gabri (very strong in midfield) was forced to spend more
time playing as a right fullback than he will have desired.
Ajax, quite frankly, just lost it.
Substitute Perez was meant to enhance
Ajax' goal-scoring potential, but achieved the opposite.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
After the game Ten Cate defended his substitution by saying
that Ajax created loads of chances before and after
the substitution and could have hit for double
digits. Which is true (Klaas-Jan Huntelaar alone
missed one massive chance before the half-time break, and
another three in the second half), but even Ten Cate must
have noticed that the fury disappeared and that Ajax seemed to
shift to a lower gear, deliberately or not. Ten Cate
will also have noticed that Sparta's counter-attacks were
becoming more dangerous and that most of the danger was coming
from Sparta's left flank. That is: the right zone of Ajax's
defense. That is: the position where George Ogararu was playing
(and he was playing just fine, we might add).
Haris Medunjanin's cracking volley (splendid save from
Maarten Stekelenburg) in the 33rd minute
was Sparta's very first shot on target. The second
went in (lightning-quick Rachid Bouaouzan on a well-executed
counter-attack, 37') and so did the second (Moreno Freire,
46'), although that one was a little bit lousy. Ajax got to
take a free-kick in midfield, Gabri tapped the ball to
the position where it had to be taken - and walked away,
leaving the free-kick to someone else. Sparta, however, picked
up the loose ball and countered to Maarten Stekelenburg's goal,
where Moreno Freire fired home. Referee Pieter Vink gave Sparta
the goal: Gabri was unaware of it, but by touching the
ball he had actually taken the free-kick...
After 50 minutes the score on the boards was not 5-0 or 6-0,
but 3-2. At the same time, PSV were 0-1 up at Utrecht, while AZ
were 2-0 up against Heerenveen. So much for Ajax's energetic
attempt to close in on goal-differential, it seemed.
Just when the game was about to peter out, referee Vink gave
the Amsterdammers a helping hand. Defender Wouter Gudde
definitely didn't touch the ball, but he didn't really seem
to touch Gabri either when the Spaniard picked up the ball
and entered the penalty area. Mr. Vink, however, pointed
to the spot, so that one of Ajax's weakest on the day (Kenneth
Perez) could notch his goal (75') and, hopefully,
kickstart the goal-scoring machine. At almost exactly the
same moment, Alves brought Heerenveen back into the game
against AZ (2-1) - and hope returned to the ArenA.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
scored his 20th goal of the season. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
AZ made it 3-1, Ajax scored a beautiful fifth (good
work from Huntelaar, easy finish by Mitea, 82') and - last but
not least - Alje Schut dealt PSV a devastating uppercut,
so that the KNVB will have to make two replicas of
the original championship shield for matchday
34. If one of the three title contenders has
something to lose, it is most definitely the reigning champion
from Eindhoven. They squandered a lead of eleven points and
another one of ten, losing no less than twenty points
in the first four months of 2007. If you would create an
Eredivisie table based on the matches played since January 1st,
PSV would be in the bottom half.
While Ronald Koeman licked his wounds and Louis van Gaal
warned his players for the "different kind of
pressure" they will be feeling at Excelsior next week, Henk ten
Cate made a remarkable statament: "We will win the title. I've
felt it fro the start and I still feel it: next weekend we will
lift that shield in Tilburg." (MP)
Update 22 April 2007: Immediately after the game
Ryan Babel received the Marco van Basten Trophy for 'Talent of
the Season'. It was presented to him by head-coach Henk ten
Cate. Each year the technical staff of Ajax's first team will
give the Marco van Basten Trophy to the Ajax youngster
who, in their eyes, made the most progress. The Rinus Michels
Trophy for 'Player of the Season' (an award based on
supporters' votes) was for Wesley Sneijder, who received it
from Daniël Dekker, chairman of the Official Ajax Fanclub
(SVA). (Source: Ajax.nl)
GOALS
- 09' 1-0 Wesley Sneijder
- 18' 2-0 Wesley Sneijder
- 21' 3-0 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
- 37' 3-1 Rachid Bouaouzan
- 47' 3-2 Iderlindo Moreno Freire
- 75' 4-2 Kenneth Perez (penalty)
- 82' 5-2 Nicolae Mitea
Referee: Vink
Yellow cards: Heitinga (Ajax), Adeleye,
Moreno Freire, Gudde (Sparta Rotterdam)
Attendance: 50,364
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu (30.
Perez), Heitinga, Vermaelen, Emanuelson (83. Roger); Gabri,
Sneijder, Davids; De Mul (74. Mitea), Huntelaar, Babel.
Sparta Rotterdam line-up: Wapenaar; De
Roover, Olfers, Adeleye, Van Bueren; Krohn-Dehli, Moreno
Freire, Medunjanin (84. Vlug), Rose (46. Gudde); Bouaouzan (81.
Emnes), Roberts.
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