Fuente: © Ajax
http://www.ajax.nl/

Ajax get too little against PSV

As one of the club values of Ajax dictates, the home side for a long time played offensive, creative and dominant football against PSV. But from a set piece, the visitors scored the only and winning goal.

/noticias.info/ ,,If this was an exam, my team has passed'', said Henk ten Cate after the match. ,,Ajax played a good first half, in which we had PSV's strong midfield under control. And we also created a series of chances. But we should have scored on at least one of them. Then you force PSV to take more risks.''

Ajax certainly was the dominant side on the pitch of the Amsterdam ArenA. PSV needed many fouls and yellow cards to try and stop the home players. There were chances for Zdenek Grygera and John Heitinga, both headers, and for Wesley Sneijder, Kenneth Perez and Gabri, from distance. PSV had only two real opportunities: Koné at the start of the half and Farfán after 44 minutes. But despite Ajax's dominance, the teams went to the dressing rooms with 0-0, something especially coach Ronald Koeman's side could not have been unhappy with. ,,Ajax clearly were the better team in the first half. We were surprised that John Heitinga played in midfield. I think the match changed after halftime'', said Koeman.

Ajax did play at a lower level than in the first half. The home side started with a good long attack, but after that PSV had their chances, as the visitors had more room in midfield. ,,The lines were playing too far apart, and the pressure dropped'', said Ten Cate. ,,Pity that such a goal decides the match.'' The Ajax boss referred to the goal by Simons, who scored from up close from a free kick after 63 minutes.

Ajax were visibly shaken, but PSV's Méndez seemed to lend a helping hand but getting his second yellow card eight minutes after his team's goal. A red card therefore, and Ajax had about twenty minutes to catch up with PSV. The home side tried to create pressure, but most attacks stranded before the PSV box was reached. Only Sneijder had two good chances. The midfielder fired wide.

,,In the last fifteen minutes, we walked right into PSV's wall'', said Ten Cate. ,,I thought we had a good left flank, but we did not use that enough. In that case, I could have Klaas Jan Huntelaar out there and taken a defender off. That we used our left side too little, I add up to enthousiasm. We probably won't make that mistake again.''

What ever it was, PSV took over first place in the table from Ajax. ,,The differences are small in everything. We did good business today'', said Koeman. ,, But the difference is only one point. If we draw one time, it's the other way around.''

,,It was really a 0-0 match, in which we were slightly better, but not enough to win'', said Henk ten Cate. notas_de_prensa_archivo