Convincing Ajax freewheel to 3-0 win over Vitesse
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Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 10 September, 2006
Only those who have regularly watched Ajax home games
in recent seasons are able to understand the joy of the
ArenA crowd after Ajax vs Vitesse (3-0): they
finally saw an Ajax team that played
well for almost 90 minutes, totally imposed their will
on the opposition and created chances until the final
whistle. The Amsterdammers were - in every thinkable
way - far superior to a team likely to finish in the top half
of the Dutch Eredivisie. Indeed, Ajax seem to have recovered
from the 'Copenhagen disaster'. Against Vitesse they made
another step forward. Ajax are getting there. It made
46,000 fans at the Amsterdam ArenA smile, on what was quite
probably the last warm, sunny Sunday of 2006.
Majestic... Jaap Stam storms
forward. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
What a huge difference with the
most recent edition of Ajax vs Vitesse (12 April of
this year), in which a pathetic Ajax side were a goal down
until the 89th minute, but won thanks to last-gasp goals by
Huntelaar and Charisteas. Are Vitesse a weaker team this year
than they were last season? It doesn't seem so. With former
Ajax coach Aad de Mos at the helm the Arnhem side are having a
promising start of the new season. After some disappointing
years they seem ready for a return into the race
for UEFA Cup qualification.
The visitors could actually have taken the lead in
the opening phase, but Vitesse's two Danes (Mads
Junker and Anders Due) failed to convert when they
suddenly showed up right in front of Stekelenburg. No, Vitesse
were not bad, but as the game moved on an inspired
Ajax team made them look bad. The
Amsterdammers also had two huge scoring opportunities in the
first minutes of the game, but Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (header) and
Ryan Babel (diagonal shot) aimed just wide of Wapenaar's
goal.
Ajax soon had their defense organized: Johnny Heitinga had a
true stinker for Oranje on Wednesday (against Belarus)
but recovered reasonably well in the heart of Ajax's defense.
Right fullback George Ogararu was very energetic in his by far
best game for Ajax. And Jaap Stam was simply majestic: a
totally natural leader and tower of strength, merciless in
duels, unbeatable in the air, unstoppable when he moves
forward. Stam and Ajax's on-form midfield of Gabri, Sneijder
and Roger made Ajax dominant like in the 'good old times'.
Ajax are slowly becoming that team that grabs an opponent
by the throat, giving them the feeling that defeat is
inevitable.
The deadlock was broken in the 32nd minute. Mauro Rosales'
cross and poor communication between goalkeeper Wapenaar
and defender Sansoni put Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar face-to-face with the Vitesse goalie. His finish
was most definitely not the desparate finish of a
striker having a form-crisis: a little feint, Wapenaar
went to the ground and Huntelaar nicely chipped the
ball over him and into the back of the net: 1-0 (32'). The
return of The Hunter, after five games' drought?
"Gimme a break! He's never been away," said Henk ten Cate after
the game. "To speak of a form-crisis after two or three games
without a goal I found that nonsense right from the start."
Huntelaar should have made it 2-0 just before half-time, but
his artistic lob landed on the roof the goal. Seconds later
(and still before the tea break) Ajax's second was on the
boards, courtesy of Roger García Junyent, one
of Ajax's best men on the day. His low, diagonal shot
into the far side netting was as intelligent,
pretty and well-placed as his numerous cutting
thru-passes. Ajax's midfield, with an
on-form, tremendously hard-working (perhaps a tad selfish)
'daddy Sneijder', a stylish Roger and Gabri as a
'Galásek extraordinaire', was once again the
best line of the team. It seemed have everything that
last year's midfield lacked: experience, power, thrust,
creativity and dynamics.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar: numerous
chances, two goals. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Last season, Ajax hardly ever played a first half as good as
against Vitesse. And if they did, they hardly
ever managed to keep it up after the break. It seemed like
Danny Blind's Ajax simply weren't fit enough for it. The
Ajax of Ten Cate, Groenendijk, Spijkerman and 'stamina
man' Laurens Ebben seems fitter and stronger. The team
continued to create chances and outplay the yellow and black
visitors. Minutes after John Heitinga's header had slammed into
the side netting, Wesley Sneijder's perfect cross from the
left was clinically nodded home by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar: 3-0
(55').
Vitesse seemed ready for a historically painful knock-out
punch, especially when Ruud Knol brutally tackled
Huntelaar from behind and saw the red card
from referee René Temmink, who - it must be said -
had a flawless game also. The fact that Ajax failed to
score more goals (Klaas-Jan Huntelaar alone could have
doubled his production) was the only disappointing thing about
the afternoon. Henk ten Cate: "We created many chances,
but we didn't score enough goals. When you have
the chance to score loads of goals, you should do
it. Oh well, I would be a bit of a sourpuss if I said
I'm unhappy with a 3-0 win over Vitesse."
Pure luxury: Ten Cate could replace two of his key players
(Stam and Gabri), out of precaution, only to give them some
rest for Thursday UEFA Cup fixture in Norway. Kenneth Perez
(who is fighting back and played well for 20 minutes) and
Thomas Vermaelen (back from an Achilles' injury) were their
replacements. Meanwhile, Harold Wapenaar was fighting a heroic
battle between the posts: he was, in fact, one of the best men
on the pitch. Vitesse boss Aad de Mos: "When you go down to ten
men, all you can do is try to stop the opponent, but Ajax's
position play was very good today. Sometimes they
ripped us to shreds. For a while I was afraid that this
was going to be one of the biggest defeats in my career as a
coach. It wasn't that bad, eventually, but I don't have to tell
you that Ajax totally and utterly deserved this win."
Yes, indeed: it was a wonderful day at the ArenA, in many
ways. Ajax now share the top position of the Eredivisie
table with AZ (the only other side with a 100%
score after three games) and Ajax vs Vitesse was the
perect dress-rehearsal for the team's fresh start in 'Europe',
albeit in a less prestigious competition than the Champions
League. Henk ten Cate: "The fact that we create so many chances
underscores our development. We're moving into the right
direction. We've had our ups and downs, but really:
we're getting there." (MP)
GOALS
- 32' 1-0 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
- 45' 2-0 Roger García Junyent
- 55' 3-0 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Referee: Temmink
Yellow cards: Heitinga (Ajax), Sansoni
(Vitesse)
Red card: Knol (Vitesse, 59')
Attendance: 46,001
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu,
Stam (52. Vermaelen), Heitinga, Emanuelson; Gabri (71. Perez),
Sneijder, Roger; Rosales, Huntelaar, Babel (80.
Manucharyan).
Vitesse line-up: Wapenaar; Verhaegh
(46. Sprockel), Knol, Sansoni, Blondelle; Hersi (46. Rojer),
Van der Schaaf, Janssen; Due, Junker (62. De Meersman),
Lazovic.
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