Ajax beats RKC Waalwijk in best performance so far: 4-1
4 (2) - 1
(0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA,
Amsterdam
Saturday, 13 September, 2003
We won't know whether Ajax is ready for AC Milan before
the actual game on Tuesday, but one thing's for sure:
the two week break, during which several Ajacieden went 'on
tour' with their national teams, was good for Ajax. The team
picked up some form and had its best game by far of the
new season against RKC Waalwijk this Saturday. RKC (the only
other Eredivisie side to have won its first three games
straight) was brushed aside in convincing style: 4-1. As a
result, Ajax is now the league leader and the only remaining
side with a 100% record.
The spell is broken: Wesley Sonck
celebrates
his first goal for Ajax. [Photo: Gerard van
Hees/Ajax.nl]
Much to the delight of Ronald Koeman, most of his men
enjoyed a self-confidence boost while playing for their
countries - and returned to Amsterdam with a smile: Zlatan
Ibrahimovic netted two goals for Sweden against San Marino and
qualified for Euro 2004, Tomás Galásek and Zdenek
Grygera secured their ticket to Portugal with the Czech
Republic, Wesley Sonck kept Belgium in the race for
qualification by scoring both goals against Croatia (2-1).
Rafaël van der Vaart, by contrast, stumbled painfully with
Holland in Prague, but was the best man in orange and scored
his first two goals for his country.
It was a major push in the right direction, judging by their
performance against RKC Waalwijk. Van der Vaart, in particular,
seemed re-born. Koeman pulled him back to his 'good old'
position in midfield and the young captain immediately
returned to his form of last season, showing some stunning
individual moves and rushes. Also, the game saw the first goals
of the season for both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wesley Sonck,
always psychologically important for a central forward.
More good news: Hatem Trabelsi is fully recovered and returned
to the squad. He started on the bench, while his stand-in,
Nigel de Jong, had his best game for Ajax in many months. It
could, with AC Milan coming up, not have been better.
Ajax played fine football from the start, and felt that the
atmosphere in the almost solidly packed ArenA got better and
better along the way. Bogdan Lobont had touched the ball
exactly once when Ajax took the lead: Maxwell set up an attack
through the middle, picked up his own pass and slipped past
goalkeeper Sinouh calmly and gracefully, underscoring that he
has become one of Ajax's best: 1-0 (21').
The deal was practically done six minutes later as
Rafaël van der Vaart delighted the crowd with some
beautiful moves and provided Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a perfect
cross. The Swede is not known as a good header, but did
everything right this time. His timing, his jump, his body
movement and the way he slammed his forehead against the ball -
there was nothing Sinouh could do about it: 2-0 (27').
The first half was better than anyone at the ArenA expected
based on Ajax's first weeks of Eredivisie play. It was
concluded with an absolutely stunning Van der Vaart run across
the pitch. It was one of those displays of skill and individual
ability that make it tempting to compare football to
ballet-dancing. The names of Johan Cruijff and Marco van Basten
immediately sprang to mind. The slow, trudging, head-shaking
Van der Vaart we saw in recent games was instantly
forgotten.
RKC Waalwijk still hadn't created a single chance when Ajax
dealt the decisive blow. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was brought down by
Teixeira directly from kick off. Inside the penalty
box, decided referee Roelof Luinge, but he was
mistaken. Tomás Galásek converted. The
unlucky RKC defender to commit the foul - Virgilio Teixeira -
was booked for the second time only two minutes later, so that
ten RKC players had to keep Ajax from turning the game into a
goal-scoring festival. "I feared for a disaster", said RKC
coach Martin Jol after the game. "For a while I really feared
it was going to be six or seven."
This didn't happen. In fact, RKC created its first and only
two major chances of the game with ten players. Rick Hoogendorp
(free header chance) and Patrick van Diemen (face-to-face with
Lobont) did not convert, so that the fourth goal of the evening
was - yet again - an Ajax production. Substitute Victor Sikora
- who otherwise proved once again that he's not good
enough for Ajax - had a fine run on the right
flank. He pulled the ball back to the near post and there he
was: Wesley Sonck, pushing home with his left for his first
official Ajax goal: 4-0 (62')
RKC got its consolation goal immediately from kick
off, as Lobont managed to push a Hoogendorp free-kick against
the post with his fingertips, but an unmarked Khalid Boulahrouz
converted the rebound. It did not bring the yellow and blue
back into game. Ajax shifted to a lower gear in the final
twenty minutes. No more goals were scored and hardly any
chancec created, but there were alternative reasons
for applause: Hatem Trabelsi returned to Ajax-1
action after a few weeks of injuries and young
Romanian Nicolae Mitea made his official Ajax-1 debut. As
referee Roelof Luinge's final whistle resounded, Ajax
officially was the league leader in the Eredivisie, for
the first time since 14 December 2002.
"It was a pity we didn't really push through", said Ronald
Koeman after the game. "I thought we played fairly well in the
first half, with good goals and better play than in the
previous game. This result give us faith for Tuesday, although
I must say we don't really need that. Against Milan we can play
freely. Anything we accomplish over there would be a bonus."
(MP)
GOALS
- 21' 1-0 Maxwell
- 27' 2-0 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- 46' 3-0 Tomás Galásek
(penalty)
- 62' 4-0 Wesley Sonck
- 64' 4-1 Khalid Boulahrouz
Referee: Luinge
Yellow cards: Cornelisse (RKC
Waalwijk)
Red card: Teixeira (RKC Waalwijk, double
yellow, 48')
Attendance: 48,121
Ajax line-up: Lobont; De Jong (64.
Trabelsi), Yakubu, Escudé, Maxwell; Pienaar,
Galásek, Van der Vaart, Soetaers (77. Mitea);
Ibrahimovic (59. Sikora), Sonck.
RKC Waalwijk line-up: Sinouh; Greene, Olfers,
Teixeira, Boulahrouz; Petrovic, Van Diemen, Boutahar (57.
Fuchs); Redan (78. Peppinck), Hoogendorp, Cornelisse (84.
Oost).
Related Links:
