After beating direct competitor FC Emmen last Friday (2-3), ADO Den Haag was able to take the lead in the Kitchen Champion Division against Jong Ajax on Monday evening, but this required a win in Amsterdam. ADO Den Haag failed to decide the match and had to settle for a draw.
Compared to last Friday, head coach Kalezic’s team had one change. Justin Ché returned to the starting line-up. This was at the expense of Tyrese Asante. Surprisingly enough, it was the away team that could become dangerous in the enemy goal area for the first time. Both Surmeli and Veerman saw their shots turned away.
In the meantime, the game went back and forth, until ADO Den Haag got a free kick, and with it the biggest chance so far. From about 20 meters, captain Surmeli took a seat behind the ball. For a moment it looked like he was going to give the visitors the lead with his shot, but unfortunately the crossbar shattered that dream. ADO Den Haag grew with the match and increasingly took the lead. In the first twenty minutes, goalkeeper Nikiema hardly had to take action. The home team, on the other hand, tried to build up at times and succeeded every now and then, but they could not yet become really dangerous.
ADO Den Haag also failed to find the net in the first half hour. After Surmeli, Ché came closest after Van Mieghem positioned him freely in front of the Setford keeper with a tailor-made ball. Unfortunately, the right back was unable to put enough power behind his header, and the linesman also flagged it for offside. In the last fifteen minutes of the first half, the pace slowed down somewhat and both teams were sloppy in the final pass, leaving ADO Den Haag still stuck at an unchanged score (0-0).
ADO Den Haag started the second half at Sportpark de Toekomst without any changes. It was Young Ajax that came out of the dressing room a little stronger. However, a free kick from about 25 meters was an easy target for goalkeeper Nikiema.
In minute 53, ADO Den Haag saw Koudossou pass his direct opponent at speed and tried to reward this by sliding the ball past Setford, but a stray foot prevented the score from opening in Hague’s favor. Unfortunately, ADO Den Haag could not become dangerous enough from the two corners that followed, but on the other hand, the pressure on the Amsterdam goal was temporarily increased. Young Ajax played excellent football and took control of the match in the phase that followed. ADO Den Haag got away well several times.
After 70 minutes of play, Nikiema managed to defuse Ajax’s biggest chance with a very clever save in the bottom corner. In the last fifteen minutes of the match, the visitors were forced to increase the pressure if they wanted to force anything. This is what they did. Veerman was close to winning, but after he turned away nicely, he hit goalkeeper Setford in his path. Even with all players in the Amsterdam half, ADO Den Haag ultimately failed to find the net, meaning the Hague team had to settle for a point.
Young Ajax – ADO The Hague (0-0)
Scoring: 0-0
Line-up Young Ajax: Setford, Jermoumi, Aertssen, Gooijer (71. Kaplan), Martha, Brandes (76. Verschuren), Banel, Salah-Eddine (64. Chourak), Kolokoh (46. Idumbo-Muzambo), Agougil (88. Alders), Godts (64. Sarfo)
Line-up ADO Den Haag: Nikiema, Waem, Van Hintum, Sürmeli, van Mieghem, Klas, Veerman, Van der Sande, Koudossou, Ché, Hamdaoui (72. Ideho)
The post first appeared on adodenhaag.nl