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Match Report: Ajax cruise to five-goal victory over hapless NEC

Slowly but surely, the Dutch sports press changes its tone about Ajax. Although the last five games were played in the 'good old' 4-3-3 formation and showed some good football, the press remained scornful. A 5-0 victory over NEC radically changed that: de Volkskrant praised Ajax' 'sovereign play' and 'technical ingenuity', Trouw stated that Ajax combines 'playfulness and determination with effectivity' and Algemeen Dagblad saw a 'swinging Ajax'. One more quote from de Volkskrant: 'The Amsterdam outsider seems to have tranformed into the number one candidate for the championship.'

Wamberto prepares to shoot on NAC goal. [source: ANP]

NEC coach and 1970s Ajax star Johan Neeskens had instructed his team to start with caution. "Keep the damage limited in the first phase", he'd told them, but NEC didn't exactly succeed: after only 28 minutes into the game, NEC was 4-0 down. The very first John O'Brien thru-pass of the evening put Ajax in the lead: Andy van der Meyde was brought down by goalkeeper Van der Sleen, who was lucky to receive the yellow card only. Cristian Chivu converted from the spot as the clock just ticked into the second minute.

Midfielder Jarda Simr should have equalized face-to-face with Grim a few minutes later. He failed, thereby missing NEC's only chance of the night. Instead, the Nijmegen team was to pick the ball out of the net on the other side. Wamberto finished a good run across midfield with a shot, which grazed an NEC defender and made Van der Sleen freeze on the goal line: 2-0. As early as in he 12th minute, it was obvious that Ajax was not gonna lose this one.

This was underscored by Rafaël van der Vaart who lifted a free-kick over the NEC wall in superb style, making it 3- 0 (21). All Ajacieden were playing well at this point. Therefore, it was almost symbolic that the fourth goal came to stand after some fine football by Fred Grim (!), who slipped past two defenders with the ball at his foot, before releasing a fine cross-pass just before he reached the middle-line, which was flicked on with the head by Andy van der Meyde and finished by Wamberto (28). Grim was hugged as if he had scored the goal himself. A true delight, to see Ajax having so much fun on the pitch.

The tottering NEC team didn't know what to do. How to stop Hatem Trabelsi, for example? Along with Andy van der Meyde, Wamberto and 17 year-old Johnny Heitinga (playing because André Bergdølmo returned from Norway with a stiff neck), the Tunisian right back was one of the best players on the pitch, faultless in defense, unstoppable when running along the sideline and almost scoring on three occasions: two diagonal shots went past the far post. The third time Patrick Ax pulled the emergency brake before Trabelsi was able to shoot. In default of Cris Chivu, Johnny Heitinga wanted to notch his first Ajax-1 goal. But Co's 'penalty hierarchy' is strict: Nikos Machlas is the second man. He didn't fail: 5-0 (80).

Even though the second half had been less spectacular than the first, it was promising to see that the number of beautiful and well-executed combinations increases by the week. Ajax' passing remained fast and accurate, and -- against a dramatically weak opponent like NEC -- inevitably lead to chances: for Johnny Heitinga, penetrating the defense from midfield, for Van der Vaart, who furiously fired inches wide after a superb short combination with Zlatan, and for Zlatan himself, who could have tipped in after a beautiful attack in which Wamberto, De Cler and Van der Vaart were all involved.

Another highlight in the second half was the return of Tomás Galásek into Ajax-1 after two months of injury trouble. He replaced John O'Brien, who played a decent game and often smartly showed up behind the strikers as an unexpected 'number 10', albeit without being as dominant as he was in his most recent Ajax and U.S. games.

So many Ajax players are playing so well at the moment, that it's hardly worrying that Ajax will have to do without Zlatan for a few weeks. A Bergdølmo neck injury? Two months without Galásek? A Mido concussion? Not nice, of course, but at those things seem to be details, hardly affecting the continuous improvement of Ajax' play. (MP)

GOALS

• 02' 1-0 Cristian Chivu (penalty)
• 13' 2-0 Wamberto
• 21' 3-0 Rafaël van der Vaart
• 28' 4-0 Wamberto
• 80' 5-0 Nikos Machlas (penalty)

Referee: Van den Ende
Yellow cards: Van der Sleen, Ax (NEC)
Attendance: 34,500

Ajax line-up: Grim; Trabelsi, Chivu (76. Maxwell), Heitinga, De Cler; O'Brien (67. Galásek), Yakubu, Van der Vaart; Van der Meyde, Zlatan (74. Machlas), Wamberto.

NEC line-up: Van der Sleen; Schuurman, Wisgerhof, Hesp. Leiwakabessy; Ax, Latuheru, Simr, Van Rijswijk (64. Wegh); Hristov (64. Jansen), Tumba (83. Demouge).

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• Discussion: Ajax current form