Ajax managed to hold off Auxerre with 10 men to record a 2-1 win at the Amsterdam Arena.
Suarez and De Zeeuw strike to down French side
Ajax managed to hold off Auxerre with 10 men to record a 2-1 win at the Amsterdam Arena in their UEFA Champions League Group G clash on Tuesday.
The home side were 2-0 up and seemingly coasting to victory at half-time after superb strikes from Demy De Zeeuw and Luis Suarez put them firmly in control.
But things were to get sticky for the Dutch side as Andre Ooijer was dismissed with a straight red card and Valter Birsa put their opponents back in it with a brilliantly taken free-kick.
Auxerre looked to push forward through Dennis Oliech up front, but he was also dismissed for a second yellow card for needlessly handling the ball, to all but end their challenge, then Jean-Pascal Mignot was red-carded despite not even being on the pitch.
An interesting sub-plot was presented before the game as referee Olegario Benquerenca shook hands with Ajax captain Suarez.
The Portuguese official sent off the Uruguayan for his hugely controversial handball on the goalline in the last minute of extra time his country's victory over Ghana in the World Cup quarter final, which denied the African team a goal and went on to lose on penalties after Asamoah Gyan's miss.
Ajax very nearly took the lead through Mounir El Hamdaoui after a classic piece of one-touch football put the Moroccan striker through, but his effort was saved by the legs of Olivier Sorin.
But they weren't to survive for long as just seconds later a scorching strike from midfielder De Zeeuw put the home side in front.
De Zeeuw was quick to dispossess Delvin Ndinga who dithered following Sorin's block and took full advantage of it as he blasted the ball from around 25 yards into the keeper's right hand corner.
Better side
Ajax were much the better side as the game wore on, playing the kind of 'total football' that would have made club icon Johan Cruyff proud and Suarez constantly looking dangerous on the right side.
Auxerre thought they had restored parity midway through the first half when Roy Contout outjumped a seemingly unsettled Maarten Stekelenburg to head into the net, but the goal was ruled out for what was a contentious decision despite Contout throwing his arms in the air.
The French side posed little threat afterwards in the first period, with Ajax not particularly deadly in attack themselves but still trying to play some incisive football, with De Zeuuw and Suarez their most promising outlets.
And they made it two through the prolific Uruguayan as he burst down the right to run on to El Hamdaoui's excellent through ball to just beat the offside trap and fire home from the outside of his right foot into the bottom corner.
The second half started with a good chance for El Hamdaoui to make it three, but he completely missed a swing at the ball in the area after a good cross into the box from Suarez.
Dismissal
But the game took a turn for the worse for Ajax as, despite being completely on top of the game, Ooijer was dismissed for pulling down Oliech on the edge of the box as he ran clean through on goal.
Auxerre made the most of it too, with Slovenian international Birsa stroking the ball home from the resulting free-kick with a lovely effort to set the cat amongst the pigeons with over half an hour to play.
The pressure was all on the home side now, and the cracks were starting to show as challenges flew in and Suarez received a booking for dissent.
It was very nearly 2-2 as Pedretti's cross was nearly converted with a downward header from Adama Coulibaly but it just didn't reach the net, with Oliech shooting wide on the follow up with an acrobatic bicycle kick.
Things were brightening up for Auxerre, with Oliech now causing more problems for the 10 men of Ajax, but they were just lacking the final ball and were struggling to support the Nigerian front-man.
But the striker's night was to turn sour as he received a second booking for palming the ball into the net with six minutes to go, making the game level on players and all-but ending the away team's attacking intent.
The game then seemed to descend into farce as substitute Jean Pascal Mignot was booked twice on the touchline for complaining about time-wasting, despite not even being on the pitch as Ajax held on to win to move level on points with Milan in Group G.
| Ajax |
Team Statistics |
Auxerre |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 3 |
Corners |
4 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
19 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
4 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
2 |
| 80.1 |
Passing Success |
76.5 |
| 29 |
Tackles |
27 |
| 75.9 |
Tackles Success |
74.1 |
| 56.9 |
Possession |
43.1 |
| 48.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
51.7 |
|
