De Jong brace saves Ajax at Sparta's Castle: 1-2
1 (0) - 2 (0)
Eredivisie
Sparta Stadium, Rotterdam
Sunday, 02 October, 2005
Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Grygera, Escudé, Maxwell;
Galásek, Sneijder, Lindenbergh; Rosales, Charisteas,
Mitea.
That's a more than acceptable Ajax starting line-up for
the Eredivisie away game at Sparta Rotterdam, you would say,
but until the day before the fixture it was in fact the
list of unavailable players due to suspension (Lindenbergh),
illness (Escudé) or injury (the rest). On match day
the good news was that Zdenek Grygera was fit and ready to
play and that 'only' ten absentees remained. In default of
captain number one (Escudé), captain number two
(Galásek) Grygera was the captain of an Ajax team
that was absolutely hopeless for one hour and went
1-0 down, but eventually left Rotterdam with three very,
very hard-fought points: 1-2.
Nigel de Jong scores Ajax's
equalizer: 1-1. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
"We have put up an absolute non-performance for one hour,"
said Danny Blind after the game, while some of his players
admitted that the Ajax boss was outraged at half-time,
preaching fire and brimstone about all the things his team did
not have in the first 45 minutes: determination,
fighting spirit, attitude. "I didn't say a single word about
the football itself," said Blind. "Working hard is also part of
the game of football. That's what I was hammering at."
And for a reason. From an Ajax perspective there was
precisely one noteworthy moment in the first
half. One chance. You can hardly say that
Ajax 'created' it: a typically bad thru-pass
coincidentally hit the back of a Sparta defender and dropped in
front of Markus Rosenberg, who suddenly had an
unmarked shooting opportunity. The struggling Swede could have
done himself a big favour by at least firing on goal,
but he wildly hammered it yards wide.
Apart from that moment the first half was dominated
by Sparta, who overwhelmed Ajax in the opening minutes,
got to take a series of corner kicks and caused unrest in the
Ajax goalmouth several times. Ajax could have sustained damage
in this phase, but didn't thanks to Hans Vonk. The veteran
goalkeeper was criticized after last week's Arsenal game, but
kept his team upright at The Castle, where he superbly punched
a Ricky van den Bergh free-kick out of the top corner (7') and
saved miraculously when Steve Olfers and Jason Oost
had scoring chances from close range in a 24th minute scrimmage
in front of the Ajax goal. A Sparta lead at half-time would not
have been undeserved.
In spite of Danny Blind's half-time tirade Ajax's
bungling continued after the break until the inevitable
happened in the 52nd minute: a low cross from former Ajacied
Anthony Obodai from the right flank was slotted home from
close range by Sjaak Polak, who was surrounded by apathetic
Ajax defenders. 1-0. How were Ajax going to turn this game
around...? For almost a full hour they had completely failed to
impose their will on the opposition. There were no chances. No
determination. No ideas. Only two outfield players were doing
well, namely Urby Emanuelson, the only Ajacied with an
aggressive forward drive and an occasional acceleration
across midfield, and Edgar Manucharyan, who played from the
start for the first time and had a good game on the left
wing.
They were unable to make the difference. Ajax's attacking
forces were the weakest part of the team. Markus Rosenberg
failed to hold up the ball a single time, Ryan Babel was so
slow and undecided that he destroyed almost every speedy attack
and Steven Pienaar's passes were invariably erratic and
uninspired. The situation seemed hopeless.
Until the 60th minute, in which Danny Blind took a major
risk by taking off both of his unbelievably poor
strikers (Rosenberg and Babel) and replacing them
with Yannis Anastasiou (his first appearance this season!)
and former Sparta man Nourdin Boukhari. No world beaters by any
means, but the duo added a healthy work ethic and some
badly needed determination to the side. Even if we do
not blame Markus Rosenberg for wasting his only
scoring chance and losing almost every ball he received, it is
still quite embarrassing that there was actually more
movement upfront after the arrival
of Anastasiou, who is generally deemed slow and a bit
static for an Ajax striker... Finally Ajax had a striker
capable of holding up the ball.
Ajax levelled the score only four minutes after the almost
ceremonial 'changing of the strikers': Nigel de Jong clinically
tapped a low Pienaar cross into the net at the far post, after
what was arguably Ajax's first decent attack over the right
flank (64'). It marked the beginning of the end for the home
side, who were visibly tired and dropped back to their own
penalty area, visibly afraid to concede another goal. As
you'd expect a second Ajax goal became inevitable
because of that very fear. Best buddies Pienaar and De Jong
once again did it together: this time the cross was
high and De Jong's finish a header: 1-2 (75').
De Jong dedicated both of his goals to his mate Luciano van
den Berg by lifting up his jersey, revealing a T-shirt with Van
den Berg's picture and name on it. The player of
Dutch First Division side Stormvogels Telstar died in a car
crash less than two weeks ago. Making personal
statements via T-shirts is officially against the
international FIFA rules. After his second goal referee Bossen
showed De Jong the yellow card for showing the 'Luciano'
T-shirt. "It was worth a booking," said De Jong after
the game. "The first time the referee told me: 'I'll give you a
break'. The second time he told me he had no other
choice than to book me. Fair enough. I can respect
that."
Ajax could have added a decisive third goal from one of
their counter-attacks in the dying minutes, but they didn't, so
that Sparta vs Ajax ended in style: with Sparta pressure
and an Ajax defense pulling out all the stops to
secure the win. Boukhari and substitute Juanfran were
booked for bringing down an opponent from behind and the
travelling Ajax fans had to hold their breath once more in
stoppage time, when Sparta got to take a free-kick from a
very dangerous position. Davy de Fauw fired into the Ajax
'wall'.
All's well that ends well, as they say. Especially because
rivals Feyenoord lost at FC Utrecht (3-1).
"If we ever had the chance to beat Ajax, it was
today," said Sparta coach Wiljan Vloet, shaking his head in
misery. Indeed, it was a rather lucky escape for the
Amsterdammers, who can use the two-week break that lies ahead
(a number of Ajacieden will play one or two World Cup
qualifiers with their respective national teams; several others
will get some useful rest). Against Heracles Almelo, on
Saturday 15 October, the starting line-up will hopefully look a
bit more like today's injury list... (MP)
GOALS
- 52' 1-0 Sjaak Polak
- 64' 1-1 Nigel de Jong
- 75' 1-2 Nigel de Jong
Referee: Bossen
Yellow cards: Vermaelen, De Jong, Pienaar,
Boukhari, Juanfran (Ajax), Gudelj, Obodai (Sparta
Rotterdam)
Attendance: 9,342
Ajax line-up: Vonk; Grygera, Heitinga,
Vermaelen; De Jong, Maduro, Pienaar, Emanuelson (78. Juanfran);
Babel (60. Boukhari), Rosenberg (60. Anastasiou),
Manucharyan.
Sparta Rotterdam line-up: Ponk;
De Fauw, Olfers, Zoontjes (83. Kinet), Gudelj; Obodai, Michels,
Polak; Van den Bergh (58. Cvetkov), Oost, Rose (50.
Bouaouzan).
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