Ten of Ajax lose again
Saturday 31 January 2009
It could well be that the race
for the Dutch league title is run after tomorrow when
AZ win their away game to Sparta Rotterdam and take
a nine point lead over Ajax.
The Amsterdammers lost 0-1 at home
to Heerenveen tonight in a very entertaining game and
now look back on a month of January that brought them
three points from three matches.
On top they saw a red card in each
of these three matches as tonight Thomas Vermaelen was
expelled early in the second half for bringing down
Roy Beerens on his way to the Ajax goal.
The second successive defeat and
the third red card in a row will be reason to feel bad
for coach Marco van Basten, but what will be an even
bigger reason for concern is Ajax' performance tonight.
The Dutch record holders were unable
to create a single decent chance during 90 minutes of
football, they had to concede midfield to Heerenveen
for most of the match and at the back they were helped
by sloppy Heerenveen finishing and a referee who refused
to give Danjel Pranjic a penalty shortly before the
break.
What was positive was the aggressive
way in which they approached the game and that makes
Heerenveen's accomplishment even more impressive.
But the Friesians seem to like
Van Basten's side as an opponent this season as they
beat them 5-2 at home last October.
Despite the penalty for Pranjic
not being given the 0-0 at half-time was justified and
the second half promised to be an exciting continuation.
That changed when Roy Beerens was
sent down the channel a few minutes after the break
and Thomas Vermaelen had no other option then to pull
the little winger down by his shoulder.
The referee's verdict was obvious:
a red card for the Belgian defender.
Two
weeks ago Ajax dragged out a 2-4 win over NEC after
Dario Cvitanich was sent off, but as was the case last
week at FC Groningen tonight Ajax could not fight
off the numeral disadvantage.
Heerenveen did what they were supposed
to do when being a man up: they widened their ranks,
increased the spaces and let Ajax do a lot of running.
On the hour the visitors got their
reward when Robbie Wielaert pulled the shirt of Gerald
Sibon and Heerenveen were awarded a free kick a few
yards outside the Ajax penalty area.
Danjel Pranjci then curled in a
beautiful free kick although it can be argued that Ajax
keeper Maarten Stekelenburg could have done better than
just getting a hand to it.
Ajax never recovered from the blow.
Van Basten brought on some fresh
forwards, but Heerenveen's lead was never in danger.
When AZ beat Sparta tomorrow the
first spot is getting out of sight and on top Twente
can jump over the Amsterdammers to the second spot if
they beat FC Utrecht.
Ajax - SC Heerenveen 0-1
0-1 59' D. Pranjic
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