Sneijder leads Ajax to 4-1 triumph in Classic
4 (3) - 1 (1)
Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 04 February, 2006
Only a couple of weeks ago Ajax seemed dead and
buried in the Dutch Eredivisie. PSV were eleven points clear,
pretty much unbeatable and surely on their way to
another championship. But the tide has changed. After PSV's
defeats at Roda JC, at home to AZ Alkmaar (2-3 this
Saturday evening) and Ajax's whopping 4-1 triumph in
the Dutch Klassieker ('Classic') against
arch-rivals Feyenoord, more than 50% of PSV's lead has
evaporated. The gap is now five points and, perhaps
even more importantly, the Eindhoven outfit seems a
bit 'demystified': the aura of invincibility that
surrounded them has vanished. Ajax are back in business. The
homecoming of 'prodigal son' Edgar Davids' could not have
been nicer.
Edgar Davids played from the start in his return to Ajax.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
He played from the start, the 33 year-old veteran, as part
of a midfield with Gabri (on the right) and Wesley Sneijder (at
the 'number 10' position). Davids came across as fit,
determined and inspired by the passionate 'welcome home'
roar from the ArenA crowd, but at the same time it
was clear that he hasn't played a competitive football game in
the past two or three months. His passing was a bit sloppy, he
lost the ball a few times and - all in all - couldn't really
leave his mark on the game, although Edgar Davids is
always Edgar Davids: 'The Pitbull' is
still a warrior and was soon involved in a man-to-man
midfield war with Feyenoord's Danny Buijs. The two sometimes
kicked the living daylights out of each other, but after the
game they smiled and shook hands. That's how it should
be.
The presence of Edgar Davids wasn't the only remarkable
thing about the Ajax line-up. The other major point of
discussion: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has been dropped by Henk
ten Cate. The striker started on the bench and
stayed there for the full 90 minutes. The undisputed hero of
last season and Ajax's top goalscorer in the Eredivisie in
the current season (until today) has lost his starting spot.
Instead, Ryan Babel got the nod as the centre
forward, while Leonardo started on the left flank
against the club that discovered him in Brazil as a
teenager.
The third major change in the
formation: Ajax played with an unusual duo in
the heart of defense, in default of both Jaap Stam (suspended
due to accumulated yellow cards) and Zdenek Grygera (hamstring
injury; out for up to four weeks). Henk ten Cate came
up with the solution you'd expect (John Heitinga and
Thomas Vermaelen), which also had the effect you'd expect: Ajax
were shaky in defense, especially in the opening
minutes, in which Feyenoord actually dominated and former
Ajax man Angelos Charisteas had the perfect chance to give
his side a shock lead. On a Jonathan de Guzman thru-ball,
the Greek striker saw his attempt hit the inside of the post,
via Maarten Stekelenburg's fingertips. Ron Vlaar's header
on the corner kick that followed went inches wide of the near
post. Ajax soon took control, and created their first minor
chances (shots from Urby Emanuelson and Wesley Sneijder), but
they were not the dominant force at the atmospheric ArenA. The
Classic was more or less in balance in the first 20
minutes.
Angelos Charisteas battles his former teammates Heitinga.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
But then everything changed, as Ajax got to take a
free-kick, well over 20 yards out. Wesley Sneijder fired
and saw his shot take a decisive deflection off the
back of Tim Vincken, the far right man in Feyenoord's
wall. Goalkeeper Henk Timmer went to the wrong corner and
the sold out ArenA erupted for the first time: 1-0, a very
fortunate opening goal indeed, but one that gave Ajax an
enormous boost and - at the same time - seemed to hit Feyenoord
like a Muhammad Ali uppercut. In less than 15 minutes'
time after the opening goal, Feyenoord
surrendered two more goals and crashed to the
canvas.
Wesley Sneijder perfectly fired Ajax's second into
the net with his left, after great work from Ryan Babel on the
left flank (32'). Less than 100 seconds after that Tom De Mul
netted the best goal of the day, after even better work
from Ryan Babel on the left flank. Urby Emanuelson (who had a
real stinker at left back against Feyenoord's splendid
right winger, Tim Vincken) rocketed the ball forward
and Babel beat Serginho Greene 'Babel-style'. His weapons:
aerial and physical power, opportunism and a marvelous
acceleration. He passed to Tom De Mul, who stylishly slipped
past Vlaar and superbly chipped the ball into the roof of
Timmer's goal: 3-0 (34'), the ArenA went bananas and
Feyenoord seemed ready for slaughter.
The best Ajax players at this point? Tom De Mul was
excellent, Ryan Babel did very well (although it was
a bit ironic that the center forward still had his best
moments on the left flank...), but the two best Ajacieden
were racing around in midfield: Gabri, Ajax's 'engine' on
the day, was magnificent, while Wesley Sneijder developed into
the superstar of this Classic. What a game he had - and it
was not that hard to explain why. For well over a year
Ajax played without the classic 'number 10' that was once so
typical for the Ajax 4-3-3 formation. The return of Edgar
Davids also marked the return of the '10': Sneijder had
two excellent pitbulls behind him and had the role he likes
best, playing directly behind the center forward with no
defensive duties to worry about. On a
sidenote: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was struggling
this season, but how would he have performed with
this Wesley Sneijder directly behind
him...?
In the dying minutes of the first half Feyenoord looked like
they were going to get seriously hammered, but a couple of
minutes after Leonardo had tested Henk Timmer once more, the
fourth goal of the spectacular first half was scored at
the other end. Urby Emanuelson was away, Thomas Vermaelen
marked poorly and Tim Vincken made the most out of it:
good cross and a clinical finish from Angelos Charisteas,
who thereby became the sixth ever player (and the first
ever 'foreigner') to have scored goals for both Feyenoord
and Ajax in the Classic. It was a goal that
Feyenoord deserved, given their play (and bad luck) in the
opening phase.
Sneijder's hattrick led Ajax to a comfortable victory.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
The second half was of more than acceptable quality,
but much less exciting than the first. Ajax were
no longer all over their opposition, simply because they didn't
have to. Feyenoord, meanwhile, did everything they could, but
it simply wasn't to be. They (once again) were a bit
unfortunate (Charisteas' 72nd minute long range
strike once again hit the woodwork), but - more than
anything else - they simply lacked the quality to give Ajax a
truly hard time. With all due respect: this Feyenoord team is
not a top outfit in The Netherlands. Tim Vincken and
Angelos Charisteas performed well, but the defense and midfield
lines...? Ajax are simply a much better football team at the
moment.
The best chances of the second half were, almost naturally,
for the hosts. Wesley Sneijder beautifully set up Tom De Mul,
who - after a graceful move - shot straight into an
onstorming Henk Timmer's chest (70'). In the very last minute
of the game a superb little backheel from Wesley
Sneijder gave Gabri a free passage, but the Spaniard once
again demonstrated that he is a dynamic midfielder and a
fantastic tackler, but a terrible finisher. Wesley Sneijder
himself is a hundred times better at that, as he showed in
the 87th minute. A shooting attempt from substitute Kenneth
Perez was blocked and deflected, and forward stepped
Sneijder, calmly tapping Ajax's fourth into the far side
netting. 4-1. Last season Ajax lost both editions of the
Classic, but their revenge has been merciless. In the
play-offs, in April, Ajax demolished the Rotterdammers 7-2
on aggregate. This season the aggregate is 8-1.
The assessment of the 'Man of the Match'? "I had not scored
in a Classic yet, so I thought I'd do it properly today,"
Wesley Sneijder said. "It was nice to play with Edgar
Davids, but it wasn't just him. Gabri had a fantastic game.
Thanks to their work in midfield I could constantly link up
with the forwards. I can tell you: it's truly great to play
with two footballers like them behind you."
Ajax and AZ have brought the season back to
life, given the fact that AZ vs Ajax and PSV
vs Ajax are still to be played. Ajax will have
to keep winning, most definitely in the upcoming two games
against 'relegation candidates' ADO Den Haag and
Excelsior. (MP)
GOALS
- 20' 1-0 Wesley Sneijder
- 32' 2-0 Wesley Sneijder
- 34' 3-0 Tom De Mul
- 42' 3-1 Angelos Charisteas
- 87' 4-1 Wesley Sneijder
Referee: Van Egmond
Yellow cards: Greene
(Feyenoord), Davids, Emanuelson (Ajax)
Attendance: 50,490
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu,
Heitinga, Vermaelen, Emanuelson (61. Lindenbergh); Gabri,
Sneijder, Davids; De Mul (86. Rosales), Babel, De Mul, Leonardo
(73. Perez).
Feyenoord line-up: Timmer; Greene (71.
Castelen), Lucius, Vlaar, Bahia; Buijs, Schreuder
(46. Derijck), De Guzman;
Vincken, Charisteas, Huysegems (77. Van
Hooijdonk).
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