06 OCT 2019; ADO den Haag - Ajax; Match Day 9

[Orange14]

And the beat goes on. Ajax are on the road to face ADO following their CL win against Valencia. Will ETH engage in a bit of squad rotation? Early match on Sunday will answer this and other questions.

[Cruijff]

Early game, match kick-off at 12.15 pm Dutch time.
I have some match tickets for this one, so vanbasten could directly visit his second Ajax game ever.

[SPL]

Good morning, very early for you in the USA. KJH for Alvarez the only change from the starting line up v Valencia.

[rjf1]

Finally a kickoff at an hour that is reasonable for me. Looking forward to enjoying a nice win.

[SPL]

1-0 Great work by Ziyech and KJH yet another goal

[Tom_]

I’m staying up to watch this one live too.

Nice work from Ziyech on the goal. It’s a very attacking setup so hopefully a few more to come

[rjf1]

Nice run by Ziyech to work free of two defenders and lay the ball off for Hunts who puts the ball into the lower left corner past the goalkeeper's outstretched leg.

[Tom_]

Wow. We’ve created so many chances. You get the feeling that if ADO score we’ll just score 10 more

[SPL]

Getting a goal early very important as they had to come out .We have had a few near misses and it could already be 4 or 5-0 just hope an early 2nd will open the floodgates

[Orange14]

Very wasteful in front of goal and dicey defense on two occasions. By all rights this should be 0-3 and some players could be rested in the 2nd half. Now they have to come out and get the 2nd goal quickly to ice this game and get out of town. Artificial surfaces are really bad for player's health.

[rjf1]

Half time -- up 0-1. So many chances wasted. A match that should have been out of sight is still poised on a bubble that could easily burst. Some really nice attacking, but just not enough determination to get the ball into the net. Beautiful give and go Dest-Donny-Dest, but Dest pulls his shot justpast the post -- Ziyech gets free in the box for a stinging shot but too close to the keeper who parries it away -- and then that two on zero which was surely going to be a goal that Ziyech somehow manages to not put away -- and yet another situation where Ziyech does all the hard work of getting clear for a shot and does make a blistering shot but, again, close enough to the keeper that he could parry it away -- and finally near the end of the half where Martinez goes down the left sideline and puts a cross in for Promes that only has to be tapped into the net and Promes puts it just past the post. How many goals should that be? Contrast that with the counterattacks that nearly resulted in ADO goals and the outcome of this one is still up in the air.

[Orange14]

Early game, match kick-off at 12.15 pm Dutch time.
I have some match tickets for this one, so vanbasten could directly visit his second Ajax game ever.

Nice that the ADO suppporters protested the ban against away supporters from Ajax. Stayed away for the first 12 minutes of the match.

[rjf1]

Getting badly outplayed in the first 15 mins of the 2nd half. Getting out hustled to the ball, frantic defending and clearing and can't put two passes together.

[rjf1]

About 12 mins left and we're still basically hanging on. Neres in for Promes - probably a good move as Promes has been increasingly less effective as the game has gone on.

[Ayman]

What a save by Onana, and good work by Blind on the follow up

[rjf1]

Totally against the run of play Ajax counterattacks - Ziyech redeems himself for his first half misses by providing Neres with a through pass, and TH's substitution pays off as Neres puts it home for what must surely be the end of ADO's hopes.

[Tom_]

Not an amazing game - tough second half, but no damage done in a tricky away game. No complaints from me.

[Orange14]

A rainy day against ADO and other than about 20 minutes in the 1st half Ajax were lackluster. That the two center backs for Ajax were the best players on the pitch gives one a sense of how the game went. Wasteful in the first half and only getting the 2nd goal late in the match left things in doubt. Perhaps the congested fixture schedule and the artificial surface were to blame but Ajax does get out of town with a clean sheet.

Player Ratings:

Onana (6) - one good kick save and then badly out of position and saved by a side net shot
Tagliafico (6) - just above average and picked up another YC
Blind (7.5) - stellar job in the middle
Veltman (7.5) - along with Blind sealed off everything against taller players
Dest (7) - much better defensively on the day
Martinez (6.5) - OK match but on threat to score from distance
van de Beek (6.5) - industrious as always
Promes (6) - really should have scored
Tadic (6) - not much of a factor on the day
Huntelaar (6) - got the match winner and had some good hold up play but little else
Ziyech (7) - always dangerous with the ball today and given a lot of space by ADO
Neres (6) - really good run to get the 2nd goal
Alvarez (NR) - just a couple of touches on late for Ziyech

International break coming up and no match next weekend. Lots of Ajax players on duty for their NTs.

[SPL]

A tough 2nd half and very frustrating as I couldn't get a stream for about 10 mins and then watched in agony expecting them to get a goal. Finally Neres put us out of our misery.Will leave Orange to sort out ratings but Blind was very sound and when looking at KJH he still scored a vital goal as he has done loads of times.

I can enjoy the rest of the day now.

PS good ratings as always Blind and Veltman are indeed playing well.

[Amol]

Saw the game starting the 30th minute or so (too early for me). Promes missed 2 sitters - first one was a 2 on none break where he should've just shot the ball and the second one where Nico (or was it Tadic) pulled back from the left and Promes shot it wide.

I was very worried starting in the 2nd half where we were getting run over at the beginning until we scored the 2nd goal. ADO gave up after the 2nd.

[SPL]

Meant to add great respect for their fans demonstrating against our fans ban.

Also before the start there were alot of older people in white tee shirts on the field.No idea who they were but when they went off Ziyech shock hands with a lot of them .Again real class from Hakim.

[Amol]

Also is it just me or does it always rain when we play in Den Haag? I always remember seeing scenes of wind, rain and bad weather when we play there.

[Amol]

Meant to add great respect for their fans demonstrating against our fans ban.

I totally missed that. Respect for them. I genuinely thought ADO fans hated everything Ajax.

[Amol]

Meant to add great respect for their fans demonstrating against our fans ban.

Also before the start there were alot of older people in white tee shirts on the field.No idea who they were but when they went off Ziyech shock hands with a lot of them .Again real class from Hakim.

Don't know who those folks were , but found a tweet about that - https://twitter.com/AFCAjax/status/1180 ... 52320?s=20

Such a nice gesture.