Category: Sports

Rugby World Cup.
Fiji almost lost to the US. 18 – 19 was the scoreline.

Wow.

AFC Ajax Amsterdam 2 – 0 Club Brugge KV.
A job well done Ajax, a job well done. Hail to Sonck for scoring both goals. Kudos to Ibrahimovic for being the architect of the attacks. This resulted in Ajax securing the second spot, just below AC Milan who was held to a scoreless draw to Celta Vigo.

And, ehem…

Stuttgart 2 – 1 Manchester United. Two German goals in two minutes!

Other results:
Chelsea 0 – 2 Besiktas
FC Porto 1 – 3 Real Madrid
Lazio 2 – 2 Sparta Prague
Marseille 3 – 0 Partizan Belgrade
Panathinaikos 1 – 1 Rangers

Ajax striker Sonck’s double sinks Bruges

AMSTERDAM, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Wesley Sonck struck once in each half against his compatriots Club Bruges to give Ajax a 2-0 win in their Champions League Group H match on Wednesday.

The Belgium striker opened the scoring after 11 minutes when he received the ball just onside from Tomas Galasek and left Bruges goalkeeper Tomislav Butina with no chance.

Sonck doubled the lead nine minutes after the break when he picked up a defence-splitting cross from Wesley Sneijder in what looked like an offside position and again left Butina with no chance of making a save.

Ajax are second in the group with three points, one less than AC Milan, who drew 0-0 away to Celta Vigo in Spain.

Bruges almost equalised four minutes after the opening goal when Bengt Saeternes intercepted a sloppy pass from Petri Pasanen, but after he got past keeper Bogdan Lobont, French defender Julien Escude cleared his attempt off the line.

The Belgian Champions were missing two suspended and several injured players and were seldom able to threaten last season’s quarter-finalists seriously.

Ajax clean up with 2-0 win over Bruges

October 1, 2003

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AFP) – Ajax made up for their disappointing start to their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 win over close neighbours FC Bruges, both goals coming courtesy of Belgian Wesley Sonck.

In what was billed as a Champions League derby, Sonck claimed his first goal of the match in the 11th minute, and on the back of a spell of Ajax domination which almost saw them ahead as early as the fourth minute.

Shots by both Sonck and teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the sixth minute gave keeper Tomislav Butina some early work – and an indication of what was to follow.

Ajax coninued to dominate and Ibrahimovic was again involved ahead of Sonck’s opener, the Swede picking up a solid pass from Czech midfielder Tomas Galasek before backheeling it through the Belgian defence to find Sonck, who rolled the ball past Butina.

Bruges reacted quickly however and were unlucky not to level after Bengt Saeternes found himself in alone on Ajax keeper Bogdan Lobont. Saeternes’ shot was goalbound until it was cleared off the line by Julien Escude.

That was one of the rare Bruges occasions in the first half however as Ronald Koeman’s side reasserted control and kept the pressure on Butina with shots from Tom Soetaers in the 26th minute and Hatem Trabelsi shortly before the interval.

Bruges came out fired up for the second half and midfielder Ivan Gvozdenovic could only watch as his shot, following a corner that was glanced on by an Ajax boot, was collected by Lobont.

The visitors’ bid to claim at least a point from the Amsterdam ArenA however was brought to an end moments later when Sonck claimed his second of the match.

Ajax midfielder Wesley Sneijder found Sonck in plenty of space behind the Bruges defence, with the Belgian given time to advance and send a left-footed shot past Butina.

Having gone down 1-0 to AC Milan last week, Koeman will be happier with a result that leaves his former Dutch masters second in group H, with Milan aclaiming just a point from their scoreless draw at Celta Vigo.

The final whistle was just blown by the referee. AC Milan 1 – 0 Ajax.
Well, one good news though. Gattuso received a red card in the final part of the game. Unluckily, Ibrahimovic received a yellow card 2 minutes later and so far, Ajax has collected three yellow cards. This is going to hurt later.

Update on the rest of the matches:
Manchester United 5 – 0 Panathinaikos
Rangers 2 – 1 Stuttgart
Partizan 1 – 1 Porto
Real Madrid 4 – 2 Marseille
Besiktas 0 – 2 Lazio
Sparta Prague 0 – 1 Chelsea
Club Brugge 1 – 1 Celta de Vigo

Inzaghi gets holders Milan off to winning start
By Simon Evans

MILAN, Sept 16 (Reuters) – European champions AC Milan began their title defence with a 1-0 Champions League win over Ajax Amsterdam thanks to a 67th minute strike from the in-form Filippo Inzaghi on Tuesday.

Inzaghi drove home a loose ball after Ajax keeper Bogdan Lobont had parried an Anrdriy Shevchenko shot to get Milan off to a winning start in Group H.

But Carlo Ancelotti’s side had goalkeeper Dida to thank for a magnificent save in injury time to keep out a close-range strike from Ajax midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, minutes after Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso had been sent off.

It was a hairy end to the night for Milan and until Inzaghi’s strike, his sixth in four games including his goals for Italy in recent Euro 2004 qualifiers, Ajax had produced the better chances.

The win was not a spectacular opening to the European season for Milan but they still managed to display the combination of attractive football, determination and luck that guided them to last season’s title.

Ajax, beaten in the quarter-finals by Milan last term, showed they will again be a difficult side to beat although they will regret not making more of their extensive possession.

CLASSIC PASSING

The Dutch side, displaying their classic passing game, had the best chances of the first half with the influential Rafael van der Vaart striking the bar with a free-kick in the 25th minute before Dida was forced into a diving save to keep out a Zlatan Ibrahimovic header.

Milan’s main inspiration came from 21-year-old Brazilian Kaka, making an impressive Champions League debut after being selected ahead of Portugal’s Rui Costa.

Kaka drew roars of appreciation from the San Siro crowd with some delightful touches and frequently troubled the Ajax defence with his dribbling.

But too often Milan moves broke down in the final stages of attack and they then found it hard to regain possession.

Milan’s best efforts before the break were a Shevchenko volley that flew over the bar and a Kaka drive just wide after a swift reaction to a poor clearance from Lobont.

Ancelotti was forced into a change in the 33rd minute when Alessandro Costacurta limped off to be replaced by Dane Martin Laursen with captain Paolo Maldini moving over to left back.

CO-OPERATION

There was little between the two teams after the break and it took a rare piece of co-operation between Milan’s goal-poaching forwards to provide the breakthrough.

Inzaghi turned well on the edge of the Ajax area and fed Shevchenko whose low shot was pushed out by Lobont only for Inzaghi to pounce on the loose ball and fire them into the lead.

Milan then launched a series of attacks as they sought a second, Shevchenko going close twice, a first-time shot after a great ball from substitute Serginho was parried away and then Lobont did well again to keep out a header from the Ukrainian.

But Milan’s plans to wind the game down were disrupted when Gattuso was dismissed after striking out at Ibrahimovic and Ajax piled forward in hope of a late equaliser.

It almost came when after a piercing run from Hatem Trabelsi, who had troubled Milan’s left flank throughout, the ball fell to van der Vaart but Dida pulled off a stunning save to foil the close-range strike.