Determined Ajax book no frill 2-0 win over Roda JC
2 (2) - 0 (0)
Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 27 December, 2006
Enough has been said about last week's embarrassing defeat in Arnhem, about the extra training
session on Christmas Day, about the disciplinary fines
handed to the Ajax players... Gabri, who was sent off at the
Gelredome (and therefore suspended against Roda), even handed
himself an extra fine and, on top of that, took the
whole squad out for dinner. Time to move on, with
a home match against Roda JC to be precise, a game in
which Ajax could actually do some good business, one day after
Feyenoord vs PSV (1-1) and on the same day as Twente vs
AZ. Ajax knew that they had to make up with
their grumbling home supporters. A few days prior to the
match Thomas Vermaelen promised in an interview that the
ArenA fans were going to see the real Ajax
against Roda.
So, did 'the real Ajax' stand up at the
Amsterdam ArenA, which was - by the way - totally sold out for
the 'holiday fixture'? Well... no. Ajax vs Roda JC
(2-0) was not a memorable match. The first half was
alright, the second pretty dull. Ajax did
show some determination this time and perhaps
deserve a little bit of credit for their good intentions,
but still... it wasn't exactly great, to say the very
least.
The Amsterdammers started without Kenneth Perez, who
served the last of his five games'
suspension, Gabri (also suspended) and - surprisingly
- goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who was in bed
with the flu, so that Dennis Gentenaar got to make his
Eredivisie début for Ajax. Jaap Stam had the flu last
week, but now returned to action.
Jap Staam returned from illness to anchor the Ajax defense.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
As you'd expect, Ajax started offensively on what
was most definitely the coldest evening of league
football so far this season. The home
side attacked, Sneijder tried it from long range and
there were a few corner kicks, but Roda stood tall in the
opening phase. It was clear from the outset that the
yellow and black had come to the Dutch capital with an
ultra-defensive strategy and that it was going to be hard to
find an opening.
Luckily for Ajax, however, referee Kevin Blom had a
little surprise in store that would turn out to be the
pivotal moment in the game. Defender Lachambre nodded the ball
back to young goalkeeper Bram Castro, who seemed to hold it
with both of his hands when Wesley Sneijder jumped him,
punched the ball out of Castro's gloves with his hand
(!) and tap the loose ball into the empty
net. The Ajacieden hardly dared to celebrate the goal, while
the Roda players were confidently waiting for the referee's
call, but - much to Ajax's surprise and Roda's
dismay - Mr. Blom hadn't noticed any
irregularities: 1-0 (15').
Would Roda have been a more serious opponent if the 0-0
score would have remained on the boards a bit longer? Quite
possibly, as Ajax didn't look like a team that would easily
have strangled a well-organized Roda eleven. Fact is that
Ajax had a rather 'cheap' 1-0 lead after only 15 minutes - and
that Roda never looked like they were going to equalize after
that single moment of injustice. Zdenek Grygera's 2-0 in the
41st minute (the Czech defender fired home at the far
post, after Thomas Vermaelen flicked a corner kick on with the
head) felt like the decisive blow. But then again: so did Tom
De Mul's 0-2 in Arnhem last Sunday...
Tonight was different, though. Ajax were at home this time.
More than 50,000 grumbling supporters were watching them. The
Amsterdammers were not going to give the game
away this time, and Roda never looked like an opponent
with the same 'secret second half powers' as Vitesse. The
second half started with one of the most spectacular moments of
the evening (a Ryan Babel dribble from the left, concluded with
a 'banana shot' that hit the cross-bar), but had
extremely little to offer in the latter 40 minutes: Ajax
hardly created any noteworthy chances, and Roda didn't do
much either. Ajax controlled the game and continued to
work for their fans, but that was about it. The last 45 minutes
of Ajax football at the ArenA in 2006 ticked away without goals
or chances.
George Ogararu whips in a corss
from the right flank. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
For Ajax diehards there were two remarkable substitutions.
Mauro Rosales saw his first minutes of Eredivisie action
since 09 November (and demonstrated for 28 minutes why he
is out of favour). Even more surprising was the fact that Henk
ten Cate brought on Olaf Lindenbergh in the 74th
minute. The Ajax head-coach said this week that he only
wishes to work with motivated players from now on:
"Players who start to moan that they want to leave after a
few games on the bench, can play for the
reserves until they have found a new club, for all I
care." Lindenbergh is one of the players who admitted in a
recent interview that he is unhappy as a reserve and wants to
leave Ajax...
Ten Cate was a fairly satisfied man at the end of a week
in which he must have felt let down by his players.
"We controlled the game, especially in the first half. You
could sense that there was a little bit of fear in the
second half, but we were well organized in defense
today. The boys were willing to fight for the win. Ajax
were pugnacious today and that's something we can work
with. We have to give everything we've got one more time, on
Sunday at NEC, and then we can still finish the year in
style. It won't be easy, though. My team is longing for a
break."
Right. Let's all look at the bright side at the end of a
week of negativity. Last weekend PSV saw their
lead increase to eleven points. One week later
Ajax have repaired 66% of last week's damage: the gap
is now nine. Most of last week's damage has been
'repaired'. Also, FC Twente booked a whopping
3-0 triumph over AZ, so that Ajax leapfrog the Alkmaar
side and are now second on the table again, for what it's
worth... (MP)
GOALS
- 15' 1-0 Wesley Sneijder
- 41' 2-0 Zdenek Grygera
Referee: Blom
Yellow cards: Huntelaar
(Ajax), Kah, Van Tornhout, De Jong (Roda JC)
Attendance: 50,334
Ajax line-up: Gentenaar; Ogararu,
Stam, Grygera, Vermaelen (52. Vertonghen); Heitinga,
Sneijder, Emanuelson (74. Lindenbergh); De Mul (62. Rosales),
Huntelaar, Babel.
Roda JC line-up: Castro; De Fauw,
Saeijs (46. Senden), Kah, Lachambre; Agustien, Meeuwis, De Jong
(72. Bodor); Oper (46. Cissé), Van Tornhout, Ramzi.
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