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.
