A viciously struck free-kick by Denmark international Lasse Schoene allowed Ajax to come from behind and draw 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain in their UEFA Champions League Group F opener on Wednesday.
The French champions had taken a 14th-minute lead at the Amsterdam Arena thanks to Edinson Cavani’s 28th goal on his 50th appearance for the club, but they were made to pay for their failure to add to their advantage.
“I think that above all it was a good spectacle,” PSG coach Laurent Blanc said. “It’s true that we were disrupted by Ajax in the second half, by a very good Ajax team. They came looking for us and used the ball well — I think it’s the first time, certainly in the group stage, that we have had less possession than our opponents. We are disappointed because we didn’t come here just to get a draw.”
Photo: Reuters
PSG’s lineup included three former Ajax stars in Gregory van der Wiel, Maxwell and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the latter welcomed by a banner from the home fans which read: “Welcome home son of God.”
David Luiz was passed fit to start in central defense for the away side, while Blaise Matuidi was preferred to Javier Pastore in midfield.
Blanc’s side have been quarter-finalists in each of the past two seasons and the PSG coach urged his team on the eve of the game to prove that they are capable of going all the way this time.
Meanwhile, Ajax have not made it beyond the group stage since 2005-2006 and the Dutch champions went into the game on the back of a less than convincing start to their domestic campaign.
Frank de Boer’s side — who had Lucas Andersen and Iceland’s Kolbeinn Sigthorsson back — did well at home in the Champions League last season, beating Barcelona and Celtic, while also holding AC Milan.
Nevertheless, they looked set for a long evening when poor defending allowed PSG to open the scoring.
Denmark international leftback Nicolai Boilesen was to blame, tamely losing possession to Lucas inside his own penalty area, allowing the Brazilian to set up Ibrahimovic. The Swede’s shot was blocked by Ricardo van Rhijn, but Cavani followed up to convert the rebound.
PSG should have doubled their lead in the opening minute of the second half, but Lucas could only fire wide of the left-hand post with just the goalkeeper to beat after dispossessing Niklas Moisander.
Ajax could have crumbled in the spell that followed, but they were let off the hook by poor finishing on behalf of the visitors, with Ibrahimovic shooting wide and then having a free-kick saved by Jasper Cillessen, before Lucas was denied by the goalkeeper at the end of another counterattack.
Marquinhos then headed just wide from a Lucas free-kick in the 67th minute and the Brazilian defender was involved as Ajax drew level seven minutes later.
He was booked for holding back Thulani Serero just outside the penalty area and Schoene stepped up to score from the resulting free-kick, his strike too strong for Salvatore Sirigu, who did get a touch.
It could have been even better for Ajax, but another free-kick by Schoene in the 77th minute was turned onto the post by Sirigu.
“On the basis of our second half, we deserved better than the draw,” Schoene said. “We proved our worth.”
PSG held out for a draw which leaves them with only one win from their past eight away outings, a run stretching back to the start of April, and there is now extra pressure on them before they host Barcelona in two weeks’ time.
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Top seeded Jessica Pegula on Friday once again fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Charleston Open semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Russia’s Diana Shnaider. Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three of her matches at the tournament so far, but again dug deep to maintain her hopes of retaining the title. The world No. 5 from the US took 2 hours, 10 minutes to defeat 19th-ranked Shnaider, relying on a formidable service game that included eight aces. Shnaider battled well in the first two sets and broke early for a 2-0 lead
RSS