De Jong ensures Ajax advance Two opportunist strikes from substitute Nigel de Jong were enough to seal AFC Ajax's place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League following a tightly-fought Group B contest with AC Sparta Praha.
De Jong double
De Jong converted Wesley Sneijder's clever cross in the 68th minute before slotting in a Steven Pienaar pass in the 89th minute to send Ajax into the last 16. Martin Petráš gave Sparta late hope in the dying moments as he took advantage of some poor defending, but Ajax held on.
Cautious Sparta
Ajax started with Markus Rosenberg, a goalscoring substitute at the weekend, on the bench as Yannis Anastasiou took up the centre-forward role, flanked by Nourdin Boukhari on the left and Pienaar on the right. Thomas Vermaelen, the 20-year-old Belgian defender, was a surprise inclusion at the back. Sparta erred more on the side of caution, with the towering figure of Libor Došek ploughing a lone furrow in attack.
Grygera gift
Sneijder was the first man to threaten either goal, his rasping effort from the edge of the area testing Jaromír Blažek but the Czech Republic goalkeeper was equal to the challenge. A minute later, Anastasiou's control let him down in a promising position. Zdeněk Grygera then almost presented his countrymen with the opening goal, slicing a clearance narrowly over his own crossbar, before Vermaelen headed Sneijder's excellent centre wastefully wide after 12 minutes.
Attacking verve
Most of the attacking impulses were being generated by the home team, with Sparta attempting to play on the counterattack but without any great purpose. The next half-chance fell to Boukhari, who worked a one-two with Anastasiou before firing well wide. Just after the half-hour Sparta made a promising break but, with a man spare, Ondřej Herzán fell over the ball and the moment was lost.
Long balls
Too often Ajax ran out of ideas when confronted with Sparta's packed defence, although the hosts did their cause little good by regularly aiming high balls towards Pienaar, one of the smallest players on the pitch. The end of an error-strewn 45 minutes came with neither side seriously threatening to break the deadlock.
Inspired change
Both teams came out unchanged after the break, and within a minute Boukhari fashioned an opening for Anastasiou, but the big Greek missed the target with his low drive. With only seven minutes of the second half played, Ajax boss Danny Blind made his first change, bringing on De Jong for Olaf Lindenbergh. His arrival injected sparkle into the Ajax midfield, and it was not long before he sent a 20-metre effort fizzing narrowly over.
Deadlock broken
Ajax's second substitution on the hour saw Rosenberg replace the largely ineffectual Anastasiou. But it was De Jong who made the breakthrough after 68 minutes, rising unmarked to nod Sneijder's free-kick past Blažek. Sparta responded immediately by swapping midfielder Lukáš Zelenka for attacker Miroslav Slepička.
Rosenberg chance
Rosenberg had a glorious opportunity to wrap up the points after 81 minutes but blazed over from ten metres when it looked easier to score. De Jong was more accurate moments later, however. Although the introduction of Jan Šimák inspired a belated Sparta rally from which Petráš registered, that strike could not prevent the Czech team slipping to another defeat and they must now overcome FC Thun on Matchday 6 to qualify for the UEFA Cup
This post has been edited by Duff on 23 Nov 2005, 13:23
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