Huntelaar leads Ajax to excellent win at Twente: 1-4
1 (1) - 4
(3)
Eredivisie
Arke Stadium, Enschede
Sunday, 11 March, 2007
The Ajax team of 2006-2007 will be remembered as
fascinatingly whimsical... Last week, against Heerenveen,
they seemed to have lost the plot. One week
later, they're suddenly capable of giving FC Twente
(#3 on the table before the fixture) an unexpected and very
convincing 1-4 hammering at their own Arke Stadium, where the
Reds were literally unbeatable so far this season
(in fact, Twente suffered their last defeat in Enschede
almost a full year ago). This season PSV (1-0), AZ (3-0) and
Feyenoord (3-0) left Arke Stadium empty-handed and without
having scored a goal, but Ajax did a whole lot better:
their performance was perhaps the best of the season,
right up there with
Feyenoord away and
Heerenveen away.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar celebrates
his first goal. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Ajax will not admit it, but beforehand they feared
defeat. More specifically: they feared to lose the 'midfield
battle' against Twente, who have an
impressive midfield line this season, with Orlando
Engelaar as the great star. Ajax boss Henk ten Cate decided
to play an extra midfielder (John Heitinga) in a
4-4-2 formation. Even Wesley Sneijder had a remarkably
obsequious role. At the back, meanwhile, captain Jaap Stam was
missing due to injury, so that young Gregory van der Wiel
(19) made his first team début in the heart of the
Ajax defense.
Van der Wiel, a born Amsterdammers from the Ajax youth
system, started remarkably sassily and courageously. In the
opening minutes he moved forward a few times and was even
responsibly for Ajax's first long-range shot on goal (2'). Ajax
looked solid and determined in the opening minutes, but this
didn't stop Twente from taking an early lead. In the 7th minute
of the encounter Orlando Engelaar intercepted the ball, marched
across Ajax's reinforced midfield and beautifully launched
right winger Kennedy Bakircioglu with a cutting thru-pass. The
Swede's perfect cross from the right flank was nodded home
by... of course: Blaise N'Kufo, the African striker with
a Swiss passport, who always seems to score
against Ajax in Enschede: this goal was his
seventh in eight appearances against Ajax - and it gave FC
Twente a 1-0 lead.
Another frustrating uphill battle was ahead... Were Ajax
going to collapse? Surprisingly enough, the answer
was 'no'. Heaven knows where their calm composure came
from, but the Amsterdammers almost immediately took control of
the game. Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere could have
awarded George Ogararu a penalty when he was brought down
from behind by Sharbel Touma (16'). The man in
black didn't, but instead of freaking out, thereby
undermining their own concentration, Ajax once
again remained icy calm and continued to play football.
Good football. A pleasant surprise, but a bit of
a frustrating one at the same time: why didn't Ajax play
like this more frequently this season...?
The visitors' almost inevitable equalizer was on the
boards five minutes after Ogararu's march to the Twente
penalty area. It all started with Gabri, who did fantastic work
in midfield, turned and 'opened up the pitch' with a wonderful
pass to Urby Emanuelson on the left. Right
fullback Luke Wilkshire touched Urby Emanuelson's
cross, unintentionally flicking it on to the far
post, where an unmarked Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar was waiting to calmly and diagonally head
home: 1-1 (21').
Central defender Gregory van der Wiel made his first team
début (and did very well). [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Ajax were now in complete control of the encounter and
had turned the game around completely by half-time. Huntelaar,
Babel and Gabri had chances almost immediately after the
equalizer. They missed, but it was only stay of execution for
the home side. Precisely on the half hour mark, Ajax got to
take a free kick, some 25 yards out. Goalkeeper Sander Boschker
and the Twente 'wall' seemed to count on either a short tap to
Edgar Davids or a direct left-footed attempt from Wesley
Sneijder, but not on a surprise strike from team captain
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, almost without a run-up. Boschker didn't
even act as if he could have saved when the ball
slammed home at the near post: 1-2 (30').
Twente had two chances to level the score in the minutes
thereafter: Stekelenburg saved adequately when Bakkal showed up
in front of him, and Bakircioglu's cross was just a little too
sharp for Ramon Zomer, who could only graze it with his
forehead and saw the ball go just wide of the far post. An
equalizer would hardly have been deserved at this point. Ajax
were superior in Enschede, as Twente couldn't find a way to get
Ajax's excellent midfield line under control: Gabri and Davids
were fantastic, Heitinga rock-solid, Sneijder unusually
diligent and officious. At the back, George Ogararu had a
splendid one, whereas young Gregory van der Wiel duelled and
passed as if he's been a starter for years.
Last but not least: Ajax's two strikers did the business
today. A deficit of only 1-2 at half-time would have left
Twente's hopes intact, but Ryan Babel dealt the knock-out blow
in the last minute of the first 45. He received the ball on the
left, cut to the middle, noticed that Luke Wilkshire was not
going to attack him and fired on goal, a
low, exceptionally well aimed shot with a nasty curve. It
went out of Boschker's reach and hit the far side netting. A
splendid strike: 1-3 (45').
Just before kick-off the Ajax team sends a
message of support to an injured teammate. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Throughout the season there has been
something weird about Ajax's second half
performances: they are frequently weak, as if the team players
lost their concentration, focus and form during their fifteen
minutes in the dressing-room. As if someone put a tranquillizer
in their cups of tea. Today at Arke Stadium, however, Ajax
were not going to let go. Their defending remained flawless,
their organisation in midfield near-perfect and upfront...
Well, upfront they had Klaas-Jan Huntelaar,
who intelligently remained on-side when Ajax unfolded a
lightning-quick counter-attack in the 80th
minute, perfectly controlled Urby Emanuelson's great
pass and pulled the trigger for his third of the day: 1-4
(80').
During the week newspaper Algemeen Dagblad
published an article that Henk ten Cate dismissed as "garbage",
but it actually contained some remarkable statistics: until
today Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted 30 times for Ajax. He scored
only 8 of those while Wesley Sneijder was on the
pitch. With Sneijder behind him Huntelaar's average
scoring rate is 0.3 per game. Without Sneijder he
nets 1.22 times per game on average. 'KJH' and
Sneijder both played in the first 14 games of the season.
Huntelaar scored only four goals. When Sneijder was suspended,
Huntelaar scored six goals in three matches. The
moment Sneijder returned, Huntelaar's productivity dropped
again: only two goals. The article headline, on the cover of
the Algemeen Dagblad sports section, was a
conclusion: NO CHEMISTRY.
Twente vs Ajax was Huntelaar's reply to to the
article. "I believe Wesley played today, didn't he?" the
striker said after the game. "I suppose we've squashed
that story now."
Coach Henk ten Cate, also referred to the article: "This was
the reply of Klaas and Wesley. They proved that this
article was nonsense." The Ajax boss also had praise for
Gregory van der Wiel: "He's played well for Young Ajax in
recent weeks. Jaap Stam wasn't there today and it felt logical
to play Greg instead. His fine performance didn't surprise
me."
Twente coach Fred Rutten: "The figures never lie. We've been
put in our place by an excellent Ajax. We were never in
the game."
Earlier on the day, AZ and Feyenoord settled for a 0-0 draw
in Alkmaar, so that Ajax now share the second slot on the table
with the Alkmaar side. The Amsterdammers also closed in on PSV,
who dropped two points at lowly Excelsior and (perhaps even
more importantly) had to stretcher off Alex, due to a
hamstring injury. The gap between PSV and Ajax is now eight
points, with six games left to play. Normally you'd say it is
too late... But what if Ajax win in Eindhoven next week,
for the first time since October 1994? That would make it five
points, and PSV still have to travel to NAC Breda and FC
Utrecht, while receiving FC Twente in Eindhoven. All of these
games are played 'around' their two Champions League
encounters with Liverpool. Perhaps it still
ain't over yet... (MP)
GOALS
- 07' 1-0 Blaise N'Kufo
- 21' 1-1 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
- 30' 1-2 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
- 45' 1-3 Ryan Babel
- 75' 1-4 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Referee: De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Yellow cards: Heubach, Wilkshire,
Engelaar, Wielaert, El Ahmadi (FC Twente), Sneijder (Ajax)
Attendance: 13,250
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu,
Van der Wiel, Grygera, Emanuelson; Gabri, Heitinga,
Sneijder (82. Manucharyan), Davids; Huntelaar (88.
Maduro), Babel (72. De Mul).
FC Twente line-up: Boschker;
Wilkshire, Wielaert, Zomer (46. Braafheid), Heubach (79.
Vidarsson); El Ahmadi, Bakkal (62. Aissati), Engelaar;
Bakircioglu, N'Kufo, Touma.
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