In summary, then
A tenacious well-drilled Feyenoord display got them a point against their big rivals, who mustered a dismal one shot on target. But the big winners from this will be PSV, who have seen their advantage at the top increase this weekend. Feyenoord could have done with a win too, and will be disappointed that they did not make their first-half chances, in particular, count. The second half was more niggly and less entertaining though it could have swung either way at the end. Thanks for following. Bye.
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Full-time: Ajax 0-0 Feyenoord
Some sporadic jeers meet the final whistle. Ajax certainly didn’t deserve any more.
90+2 mins: Ajax are dominating injury-time, suddenly. But the keeper’s long punt for Basacikoglu creates openings for the visitors from which they eventually get a corner, which is delivered poorly, headed clear and is the last action of the match.
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90 mins: Ajax chance. Kishna feeds Schone on the left, he’s clear and bears down on the keeper, but Wilkshere blocks. There will be three extra minutes.
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89 mins: Feyenoord are finishing this game as they started it, in possession and pressing. Immers burrows into the box after a move involving Kazim-Richards and Toornstra but is blocked. Ajax counter but their attack lacks focus and Feyenoord clear.
87 mins: Feyenoord substitution: Basacikoglu for Boetius
86 mins: Frank de Boer, never a man with a naturally happy carefree expression, has turned his frown up to 11 as Ajax continue to play fast and loose with possession. This game looks to be petering out a little now.
85 mins: Ajax give it away inside their area again and Kazim-Richards feeds Boetius but it’s scrambled clear in the nick of time again.
84 mins: Some Ajax pressure wins a throw on the left but Immers is first to the ball in the box and clears. Feyenoord have looked pretty compact at the back.
83 mins: Feyenoord substitution - the Morrocan El Ahmadi is replaced by Vilhena
78 mins: Even better chance for Feyenoord as a ball in from the left eludes the Ajax back line and finds the inrushing Toornstra, but he heads it straight at the keeper.
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77 mins: Kishner gets past his man on the inside-right and his shot is blocked, but that was a bit better from Ajax
76 mins: Chance! Toornstra’s ball on the right finds Boetius rushing in at the far post and his header back across the line and hits his team-mate Kazim-Richards. Feyenoord should have made that count.
74 mins: There’s a point when blood and thunder becomes tiresome petulance and this increasingly fractious match is teetering on that fine line at the moment.
74 mins: Big shout! Kazim-Richards’ fine header on puts Boetius clear and it looks as if he’s hauled back on the edge of, or just inside, the area, but the referee gives nothing.
72 mins: Some histrionics as Cillesen and Toornstra square up, after the latter went in unnecessarily on the keeper after he gathered a long ball. The Feyenoord man gets a booking, though the keeper made a meal of it.
70 mins: Ajax continue to give the ball away, and Boilesen almost blunders calamitously when he concedes possession on the edge of his own area. Feyenoord have a man advantage briefly but Kazim-Richards is closed down before he can get a proper shot in.
69 mins: Ajax chance! A lovely Van Rhijn cross from the right, low and menacing, is spilled by the keeper, Schone pounces on it but is just closed down.
68 mins: And now tempers are fraying after another niggly foul givers Ajax a free-kick. Schone takes it, can’t beat the first man, or the first tackle, but still wins it back and wriggles into the area only to be brilliantly dispossessed by Clasie.
66 mins: We have a booking, ladies and gentlemen, and it’s for Feyenoord’s Kongolo, but for obstruction at a goalkick rather than any limb-endangering hack
65 mins: Clasie wins a corner on Feyenoord’s right. It’s worked out to the opposite flank but Boetius’s cross is hacked clear.
64 mins: Ajax Substitution: Zimling comes on for the debutant Bazoer.
63 mins: Feyenoord are back on top, as Clasie and Toornstra initiate another mood, but the final ball and finish is not there.
62 mins: Another non-booking. Toornstra fells Andersen yet still there is no punishment beyond a free-kick. This is adversely affecting the match now.
61 mins: Clasie wins a free-kick after a driving run is brought to a shuddering halt by Van der Hoorn. But again the referee decides to show a card. The free-kick comes to nothing.
58 mins: The manager Fred Rutten is famously reluctant to use his substitutes but I wonder whether Feyenoord might need a change soon. They’re enjoying possession though and Toornstra’s long ball finds Boetius who plays it back for the inrushing Toornstra whose low shot is firm and on-target but easy enough for the keeper to gather.
56 mins: Ajax are playing slightly more fluent football than they were in the first half but the basic pattern hasn’t shifted that much - Feyenoord are snapping into them quicker and denying them space and momentum. Though going forward, the visitors have shown less since the interval.
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54 mins: Nice attacking move from Feyenoord. Wilkshire’s ball in is chested down by Kazim-Richards deftly for El Ahmadi but he’s closed down and the ball is cleared.
52 mins: Schone and Andersen pull off a skilful little combination on the left, which proves enough to spark the Ajax fans into some lusty chanting. But their team aren’t really any nearer to a breakthrough. And a spell of possession comes to nothing when Andersen’s dinked ball forward goes straight to the keeper.
5o mins: Kazim-Richards gets clear on the right, beats his man but tries a shot from a too-tricky angle and it rebounds into the side netting.
49 mins: Some Ajax possession draws a free-kick for a foul on Serero. They’ll be grateful just to have their collective feet on the ball for a bit after a torrid first half, and they win another free-kick on the right after inducing another hack. Schone’s ball in is headed clear by Kongolo though. Danger averted.
46 mins: Immers wins possession and drives forward as Feyenoord resume their first-half tenacity but his shot is blocked for a throw. Which comes to nothing.
Peep!
The teams re-emerge, to the sound of Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, and Feyenoord get us underway.
Half-time reshuffle news: Sigthursson is getting ready to come on for Ajax, for Milik, who has disappointed and looked lost in attack - though his goalline headed clearance may prove vital.
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Half-time: Ajax 0-0 Feyenoord
And a first half in which the visitors have been dominant ends. Feyenoord might just be kicking themselves that they’re not ahead - they’ve been sharper, swifter and better organised but it’s not quite come off in their finishing. Ajax are booed off - ‘they’re a demanding crowd’ is the commentary box view. In other words, they like a good moan. Which is fine. Football’s all about moaning. Back in 10 minutes or so.
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44 mins: Ajax are giving the ball away in midfield alarmingly frequently but Feyenoord can’t quite build on the resultant breaks. Andersen gets forward on the left for the home team and it’s played across to Van Rhijn on the right but his curling ball in eludes everyone. Ho hum.
41 mins: More Feyenoord possession and pressing, but Boetius wastes his cross from the left which drifts over for a goalkick.
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39 mins: Kazim-Richards wins a corner when his diagonal ball in from the right is volleyed behind for a corner. From which there’s a mad scramble and Clasie’s close-range header is headed off the line by Milik. The resultant corner sparks more uncertain defending and scrambling and Feyenoord come again but a low shot skims well wide. Ajax look extremely uncertain at set-pieces.
37 mins: Schone is the source of most Ajax attacking promptings but the home side just can’t find space and when the ball is worked out to Kishna on the left, he’s swiftly closed down and dispossessed to win a throw.
35 mins: Boetius heads on for Kazim-Richards on the left. the cross is deflected out but only as far as Immers who initiates another prolonged spell of Feyenoord possession. Van der Hoorn eventually clears the danger when the ball is punted long into the area. Ajax fans are whistling their dissatisfaction.
33 mins: If I were a Feyenoord fan, I suspect my mood might be slightly shifting from “this is going really well isn’t it?” to a more fretful “Shouldn’t we have scored by now?”
31 mins: More nerves for Ajax as Boilesen skews a clearance straight up in the air inside his own area but the keeper gathers.
30 mins: More slick stuff from the visitors as Boetius feeds Toornstra down the left and he gets to the byline and puts a low ball in for Kazim-Richards that’s squeezed clear at the last second, and Ajax are reprieved by an offside flag anway
27 mins: Clasie is looking, ahem, pretty classy in the Feyenoord midfield and pulling many strings, but the visitors’ final ball and crossing isn’t completely up to scratch either and another long punt from the right is easily gathered by Cillesen.
26 mins: Some fluent football at last from Ajax, as at the end of a swift passing move Andersen finds Kishna on the inside left channel but his pass isn’t quite measured enough to give him a clear shooting opportunity. And the ball is eventually cleared.
24 mins: Possession stats show Feyenoord 53%-47% ahead, for what that’s worth. Which is nothing. Keep superfluous statistics out of football. Anyway, Feyenoord still looking the better side as Immers heads wide.
22 mins: Excitement for the home crowd as Boilesen puts Milik through in space but that excitement is swifly snuffed out by the assistant’s flag for offside.
20 mins: Ajax clear the danger, but they’re unmistakably second best at the moment.
19 mins: Save! The corner prompts some head-tennis and general failure to clear and a ricochet then falls kindly for Kazim-Richards with only the keeper to beat from six yards, but Cillesen saves brilliantly with his feet. Corner.
18 mins: A period of patient possession football by Feyenoord, which irritates the crowd, is wasted when Van Beek thumps the ball wildly out on the left for a throw. They regain possession though, and win a free-kick for a foul by Schone on Wilkshire. The visitors build again. Boetius finds Kazim-Richards who knocks it back to, I think, Immer whose cross for Boetius needs to be headed behind for a corner.
14 mins: Kazim-Richards is looking swift and dangerous and outpaces Van der Hoorn with alarming ease chasing a long pass forward, but can’t get the ball under control and hacks behind for a goalkick to Ajax.
13 mins: Feyenoord win their second corner but it’s punted clear, and when Wilkshire picks it up again his hopeful ball forward is, well, hopeless. It’s a goalkick.
12 mins: Ajax go forward and Schone playes it wide for Bazoer on the left, who cuts inside confidently but his low shot is easily gathered at the near post by Feyenoord’s ex-Ajax keeper Vermeer, who’s predictably getting howled at every time he touches the ball.
9 mins: Clasie wins the ball well in midfield, surviving shouts of handball, and the ball is worked through to Immers who sends a fierce but inaccurate 25-yard drive wide of the right hand post. Feyenoord look sharper and more tenacious at the moment.
6 mins: Feyenoord try to get forward, with a nice ball forward by Kazim-Richards for Boetius but Ajax clear. Feyenoord come again and induce a defensive error, and a poor slice out for a throw to the visitors. From it there’s a fearsome scramble on the edge of the six-yard box and Kazim-Richards wriggles past three and wins a corner with a shot from a tight angle. Kongolo heads it over.
3 mins: A crunching foul by Ajax this time, Van Rhijn clattering into the back of Clasie, in a classic ‘let-em-know-you’re-there’ early reducer. Sophisticated.
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2 mins: Ajax get forward, with teenage debutant Bazoer foraging on the left and winning a throw. From it Milik has two shots on goal blocked, one by his own team-mate Andersen.
1 mins: We being with an extended bout of midfield pinball, and a crunching foul, winning Ajax a free-kick.
Peep!
And we’re underway, Ajax kicking off, and both sides lining up in a 4-3-3.
The interminable anthemic melodramatic Europop on the PA system ends, and out come the players to more traditional fanfare. Under a pitchside tunnel of balloons.
The Ajax crowd is in full cry now, the impact of which is slightly diluted by the sight of people in the crowd filming it on their phones rather than throwing themselves into it properly, and actually being part of the spectacle rather than showing off about it on the internet. Kick phones out of football, folks.
Fan passion news:
One can overplay the fanaticism surrounding fixtures, and lapse into cliche, nonetheless here’s Ajax supporters watching yesterday’s training session:
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The teams are in
And they line up like this:
Ajax: Cillesen; Boilesen, Van der Hoorn, Van Rhijn, Moisander; Serero, Andersen, Bazoer; Schone, Milik, Kishna. Subs: Boer, Sigthursson, El Ghazi, Tete, Viergever, Zimling, Menig.
Feyenoord: Vermeer; Van Beek, Wilkshire, Nelom, Kongolo; El Ahmadi, Immers, Clasie, Kazim-Richards, Toornstra, Boetius. Subs: Mulder, Mathijsen, Basacikoglu, Te Vrede, Vilhena, Boulahrouz, Achahbar.
Preamble
Morning everyone. Sunday morning/lunchtime, frankly, is no time for football but our TV overlords think otherwise, so here they are, in their thousands, at the Amsterdam ArenA for what is always one of the spikiest, most keenly anticipated fixtures in the Dutch football calendar. Ajax in particular need a win to lift their hopes of catching the leaders PSV Eindhoven, who won 2-1 at Cambuur yesterday to put themselves seven points clear of second-placed Ajax and 15 ahead of Feyenoord in third, although they have played a game more. Fred Rutten’s visitors will fall seriously adrift of their rivals from Amsterdam should they lose today.
Winning this fixture has always mattered to both sides, of course, and the rancorous relationship between the two has been reflected in the banning of away supporters from it for the past five years. Furthermore, the buildup to today’s meeting has been soured by the midweek fire at Ajax’s main supporters club with arson suspected. Fingers of blame are being pointed at Feyenoord fans, and security will be tight today.
But anyway, yer actual football. There are plenty of reasons to look forward to this one, not least that the Eredevisie has been one of Europe’s most goal-laden leagues this season. Feyenoord featured in perhaps the Dutch league’s best match this term, the crazy 3-4 defeat to PSV just before Christmas, and boast oft-forgotten, occasionally-remembered-again Leytonstone boy Colin Kazim-Richards up front. Ajax’s forward Arkadiusz Milik, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, has been in fine form this season but while their manager, Frank de Boer may be linked with Newcastle he’s not universally popular among the Ajax faithful, as PSV threaten to pull away from them in the league.
Good morning. Tom will be here shortly for live coverage of Ajax v Feyenoord, arguably the biggest game in Dutch club football. Could it be Ajax boss Frank de Boer’s last for the club? Louise Taylor reckons it might be, after he dropped a few hints about joining Newcastle this summer:
Asked if he would consider relocating to Tyneside the 44-year-old former Holland captain appeared to drop Mike Ashley a hint. “I have everything open,” said the Ajax head coach.
“But I will be ready that’s for sure. I only said if they asked I don’t go now because I am with Ajax and I don’t want to go halfway through a season while also stepping into a team that are already halfway too. So, for me, if there will be a chance it is always in the new season.”
You can read the full story here.
