aj auxerre defender adama coulibaly says the ligue 1 team want to register their first group g win, against afc ajax, in order to "thank our supporters" for their continued backing.
after three defeats for aj auxerre in as many uefa champions league encounters, adama coulibaly wants the french club to reward its supporters for their backing with a first victory in group g when afc ajax visit the stade abbé-deschamps.
following a 2-0 loss to ac milan on matchday 1 ‒ when it took the rossoneri until midway through the second half to break the deadlock ‒ auxerre have suffered single-goal losses to real madrid cf and ajax. the madrid setback was particularly disappointing, ángel di maría hitting the winner nine minutes from time, and so with ajax arriving in burgundy two weeks after inflicting a 2-1 defeat on jean fernandez's team, coulibaly views the game as a chance for auxerre to change not only their luck but the course of their campaign.
"after three matches and three defeats, we want to do something against ajax," said the mali defender. "we want to win to thank our supporters." those fans have, though, seen their side improve upon a disappointing start to the season domestically by winning three of their last four ligue 1 fixtures, the latest being a 2-0 home triumph over ogc nice on saturday.
understandably, coulibaly thinks auxerre are improving game by game. "during the three matches we were not far from getting a result," explained the 30-year-old. "against real [madrid] we had more chances but could not score. a victory will bring more victories and so let's hope it starts tomorrow."
should that be the case, then auxerre would move to within a point of their third-placed opponents and breathe new life into their hopes of qualifying for the uefa europa league. coulibaly, yet to miss a minute of his team's continental campaign this term, thinks that would be the ideal way to repay the supporters.
"tomorrow it's time to do something for our fans, for our families, and for everybody at the club," added the former rc lens player. such is auxerre's predicament at the foot of the section, however, that fernandez regards the visit of ajax as "our last chance". "we have two home matches left and we want to take maximum points from those two games," the trainer said. "then we will see what happens."
substitute steeven langil struck with six minutes left to get auxerre off the mark in group g and dent ajax's own chances of making the last 16.
aj auxerre have their first points on the board in uefa champions league group g after substitute steeven langil struck late on to defeat afc ajax.
beaten in each of their first three outings, auxerre are now just two points behind second-placed ac milan – their visitors on 23 november – with ajax midway between both in third. it was the visitors who showed the brighter early touches, but lively competition newcomer frédéric sammaritano put the ligue 1 side ahead with a ninth-minute deflected effort and his team-mate langil pounced with four minutes remaining after toby alderweireld had pulled martin jol's men level.
a quiet opening looked primed to settle into a pattern of ajax dominance as soon as the likes of mounir el hamdaoui and luis suárez began finding time on the ball. that impression became even more alluring when urby emanuelson rifled narrowly over from the left, but it was rapidly banished by sammaritano as the diminutive forward found the net via jan vertonghen, julien quercia having chested down a dariusz dudka ball on the edge of the area.
demy de zeeuw nearly responded immediately with a sliding volley that sailed too high, but, leading for the first time in this year's group stage, auxerre were hungry for more goals and threatened twice through valter birsa, the slovenian international heading wide and scuffing to the left of the target. nobody was enjoying himself more than sammaritano, though, and the energetic goalscorer flayed a loose ball past a post, before suárez went even closer at the other end after bamboozling dudka.
if that chance warned auxerre not to get too comfortable, they maintained their dominance when birsa headed a benoît pedretti free-kick straight at maarten stekelenburg. right-back cédric hengbart then christened the second period with a dipping volley taken comfortably by the ajax no1, but, having introduced siem de jong for eyong enoh, the eredivisie outfit gradually set about building pressure. suárez was becoming a particular thorn in auxerre's side and, after heading against the crossbar, he prodded wide with hengbart on the floor in his wake.
it was centre-back alderweireld who nonetheless levelled the scores, nodding beyond olivier sorin from a suárez cross. that merely brought auxerre out of their shells again, however, and langil instantly tested stekelenburg on the break. set free by fellow substitute kamel chafni moments later, this time langil rolled the ball under the dutch international.
ajax'ın bu maçta giydiği sarı lacivert forma nedense sanki ajax dışında bir takım izliyormuşum izlenimi verdi bana. zira ajax = beyazağırlıklı kırmızı forma...
