Ajax in quarter final after easy 4-0 win over FC Haarlem
4 (3) - 0 (0)
KNVB Cup, 'Round of Sixteen'
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 24 January, 2006
Just over 25 years ago, on 06 December 1981, Johan Cruyff
returned to Ajax in a sold out, legendary Eredivisie home
match against FC Haarlem. Ajax won by the score of 4-1 and
Cruyff graced his comeback with one of the greatest goals in
Ajax history: a solo run concluded with an unforgettably
perfect chip over goalkeeper Edward Metgod... a goal like a
painting by Rembrandt. Cruyff's goal was shown on the
big screens of the Amsterdam ArenA today, just
before the KNVB Cup fixture between Ajax
and Haarlem (now a mid-table side from the First
Division). Although the fixture was nowhere near as legendary
as the December 1981 encounter, Ajax did deliver,
booking a 4-0 win and pulling into the quarter finals
of the KNVB Cup.
Ajax boss Henk ten Cate decided to lead by example: the
head-coach suffered from the flu, but wanted to be on the bench
anyway. That's the spirit. He gave several reserves players the
nod (Gentenaar, Rosales, Maduro, Lindenbergh) and his
troops did not let him down: FC Haarlem were never in
the game. Ajax worked hard, were concentrated
throughout and could have scored more goals than just
four. More than 3,500 Haarlem supporters had made the trip
to the ArenA and they probably didn't seriously expect the
Redshorts to advance, but the truth is that
Haarlem never even came close to Dennis Gentenaar,
who made a rare appearance in the Ajax goal, but only
got to catch a couple of simple crosses. The visitors
produced precisely zero shots on target...
Reservist Dennis Gentenaar had no
trouble keeping a clean sheet for Ajax. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Ajax's first goal was on the boards after eight
minutes: Huntelaar cross from the right, miss from Leonardo,
unfortunate own goal from Ray Fränkel at the far
post. Haarlem's hopes seemed to vanished immediately. By
the 45th minute, the Amsterdammers had lifted the score
to 3-0. In the 34th minute Leonardo beautifully rocketed
home on a George Ogararu cross, for his first
official Ajax goal: the Brazilian aimed perfectly between
the near post and goalkeeper Heyblok's body. Six minutes later
Leonardo was once again involved in the build-up towards an
Ajax goal: he passed the ball to Kenneth Perez, who clinically
fired into the low corner from just outside of the
penalty area.
In the second half, with Heitinga instead of Stam and Babel
instead of Huntelaar, a determined Ajax continued to
play football of more than acceptable quality. There were
plenty of scoring chances, but the hosts were not as efficient
as in the first half. The second half was at least as good as
the first, but Ajax added only one goal to their total:
Kenneth Perez deftly nodded home on a Mauro Rosales cross from
the right, in the very last minute of the game. Rosales
was linked with Argentinian powerhouse River Plate this week,
but a January transfer seems to have fallen through. Against
Haarlem, the right winger appeared in the starting line-up for
the first time since Ajax's previous KNVB Cup
fixture: Ajax vs ADO Den Haag on 09 November 2006.
Leonardo scored his first-ever
goal for Ajax. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Ajax vs Haarlem, in the fourth round ('round of sixteen') of
the KNVB Cup, was - with all due respect for one of Holland's
oldest professional football clubs - a walk in the park for the
Amsterdammers, who are still waiting for their first serious
test in this season's cup competition. On this freezing
cold evening at the ArenA, they did their job and
provided 23,100 spectators with the entertainment
they'd come to the ground for. "I think the crowd must
have been reasonably satisfied when they went home," said
Henk ten Cate. "I am quite pleased with the final score
and with the way we played. Too bad we didn't score more
goals, but Haarlem had a fantastic goalkeeper and they were
well organized. I do think we played some attractive
football."
The 'Man of the Match' at the Amsterdam ArenA deserves a
special mention: Hedwiges Maduro's careerin Ajax-1 had a
meteoric start, but had a very, very difficult 2005-2006 season
and continued to struggle during the the current season.
Serious confidence issues, according to the
rumours. Against Haarlem, Maduro proved that he still
knows how to play football. Welcome back, Hedwiges: it was
'only' FC Haarlem, but you were flawless. What
more can we say about this game? Not much. Ajax are in the
quarter final of the KNVB Cup. Draw is tomorrow evening.
(MP)
GOALS
- 08' 1-0 Ray Fränkel (own
goal)
- 34' 2-0 Leonardo Vitor Santiago
- 40' 3-0 Kenneth Perez
- 90' 4-0 Kenneth Perez
Referee: Kuipers
Yellow cards: Axwijk, Van Beelen (FC
Haarlem)
Attendance: 23,100
Ajax line-up: Gentenaar; Ogararu, Stam
(46. Heitinga), Grygera, Vermaelen; Maduro, Perez, Lindenbergh;
Rosales, Huntelaar (46. Babel), Leonardo.
FC Haarlem line-up: Heijblok;
Fränkel, Van der Kruis, Ravensbergen, Axwijk; Berck
Beelenkamp, Van Toor (87. Burgzorg), Van Beelen (83.
Wijks); De Graaff (70. Cairo), El Gaaouiri, Ahahaoui.
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