Arsenal Comes Back from Two-Goal Deficit to Defeat Ajax 3-2
August 10th 2008 02:45
It was goal-galore in Amsterdam Friday night as Arsenal and Ajax delivered an enthralling performance in their first match for the Amsterdam Tournament. For the first time in pre-season, Arsène Wenger's starting eleven was the same as you would expect for a Premier League game with players such as Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, and Emmanuel Adebayor all taking the field before opening kick-off.
In the opening stages of the match, it was Arsenal on the attack as Theo Walcott led two unsuccessful counterattacks and Fabregas tried a long-range shot that was stopped by the keeper. However, their great forays in front hid one glaring flaw in defense – their inability to deal with Ajax's right-winger Luis Suarez. Indeed, the young Urugayan gave all sorts of problem to Clichy who couldn't participate in the attack for fear of being caught too high, so it came off as no surprise when Suarez scored the first goal of the match – a superb volley that left no chance to Almunia. The goal came after a long spell of Ajax possession in Arsenal's half. It was only a matter of time before the Dutch team found the back of the net with Arsenal's defense slowly wilting away. In fact, Suarez's volley was the result of a poor defensive header by Toure who cleared the ball to the entrance of the box, a big no-no for defenders. Two minutes later, Ajax would strike again with striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who half-volleyed the ball past Almunia. The goal came from a free-kick right after the kick-off, the Gunners had made only three passes between both goals. Huntelaar would score again at the 40th minute, but the goal was ruled offside and thus, disallowed. Although Ajax had a two-goal lead after 45 minutes, Arsenal weren't playing badly. They only had a couple issues to sort out. The first was their final ball which left a lot to be desired and the second was the huge gap between their midfielders and strikers. With those two sections so far apart, Ajax players only had to wait in the middle to gain possession. Every time a midfielder tried to reach a striker, the ball would get stolen along the way by Ajax midfielders. Either a striker would have to come back deep to help out or the midfielders would reduce the distance and play short passes like they usually do.
The tempo settled down a bit in the beginning of the second half, understandable since Ajax had a comfortable lead while Arsenal were probably wondering how to come back from the position they were in. The spark came at the 66th minute when Eboue's cross finally connected with Adebayor's head. I say 'finally' because it wasn't the defender/midfielder's first cross of the match, and they were all far off the mark expect for this one. At 2-1, Arsenal were back into it and they also seemed to have found a flaw in Ajax's tactics since they started to attack exclusively on the right wing. At the 74th minute, it was the Dutch's turn to make a defensive mistake as a sloppy back-pass was intercepted by Adebayor. After running past the goalkeeper, the Togolese striker found himself in a bad angle which prevented him from shooting on goal. Instead, he passed the ball back to substitute Nicklas Bendtner who didn't miss the wide open net. At 2-2, everyone was back to square one. Arsenal's momentum would carry them further on however. At the 83rd minute, Adebayor would score the third goal of his team, his second of the night. The goal came when an ailing Denilson started to combine with Adebayor from just outside the box, all the way to the goal-line. At 3-2, Arsenal had completed the comeback, and there was simply no time for Ajax to score another.
Arsenal's line-up: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, Kolo Toure, William Gallas, Gael Clichy; Emmanuel Eboue, Cesc Fabregas (Jack Wilshere, 83rd), Denilson (Aaron Ramsey, 83rd), Theo Walcott (Nicklas Bendtner, 67th); Robin Van Persie (Philippe Senderos, 83rd), Emmanuel Adebayor.
In the opening stages of the match, it was Arsenal on the attack as Theo Walcott led two unsuccessful counterattacks and Fabregas tried a long-range shot that was stopped by the keeper. However, their great forays in front hid one glaring flaw in defense – their inability to deal with Ajax's right-winger Luis Suarez. Indeed, the young Urugayan gave all sorts of problem to Clichy who couldn't participate in the attack for fear of being caught too high, so it came off as no surprise when Suarez scored the first goal of the match – a superb volley that left no chance to Almunia. The goal came after a long spell of Ajax possession in Arsenal's half. It was only a matter of time before the Dutch team found the back of the net with Arsenal's defense slowly wilting away. In fact, Suarez's volley was the result of a poor defensive header by Toure who cleared the ball to the entrance of the box, a big no-no for defenders. Two minutes later, Ajax would strike again with striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who half-volleyed the ball past Almunia. The goal came from a free-kick right after the kick-off, the Gunners had made only three passes between both goals. Huntelaar would score again at the 40th minute, but the goal was ruled offside and thus, disallowed. Although Ajax had a two-goal lead after 45 minutes, Arsenal weren't playing badly. They only had a couple issues to sort out. The first was their final ball which left a lot to be desired and the second was the huge gap between their midfielders and strikers. With those two sections so far apart, Ajax players only had to wait in the middle to gain possession. Every time a midfielder tried to reach a striker, the ball would get stolen along the way by Ajax midfielders. Either a striker would have to come back deep to help out or the midfielders would reduce the distance and play short passes like they usually do.
The tempo settled down a bit in the beginning of the second half, understandable since Ajax had a comfortable lead while Arsenal were probably wondering how to come back from the position they were in. The spark came at the 66th minute when Eboue's cross finally connected with Adebayor's head. I say 'finally' because it wasn't the defender/midfielder's first cross of the match, and they were all far off the mark expect for this one. At 2-1, Arsenal were back into it and they also seemed to have found a flaw in Ajax's tactics since they started to attack exclusively on the right wing. At the 74th minute, it was the Dutch's turn to make a defensive mistake as a sloppy back-pass was intercepted by Adebayor. After running past the goalkeeper, the Togolese striker found himself in a bad angle which prevented him from shooting on goal. Instead, he passed the ball back to substitute Nicklas Bendtner who didn't miss the wide open net. At 2-2, everyone was back to square one. Arsenal's momentum would carry them further on however. At the 83rd minute, Adebayor would score the third goal of his team, his second of the night. The goal came when an ailing Denilson started to combine with Adebayor from just outside the box, all the way to the goal-line. At 3-2, Arsenal had completed the comeback, and there was simply no time for Ajax to score another.
Arsenal - Ajax: 3-2
Arsenal's line-up: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, Kolo Toure, William Gallas, Gael Clichy; Emmanuel Eboue, Cesc Fabregas (Jack Wilshere, 83rd), Denilson (Aaron Ramsey, 83rd), Theo Walcott (Nicklas Bendtner, 67th); Robin Van Persie (Philippe Senderos, 83rd), Emmanuel Adebayor.
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