A double salvo from Klaas Jan Huntelaar helped AFC

Huntelaar adds to Austria’s woes
Thursday, 2 November 2006

Ajax start their UEFA Cup Group F campaign with a 3-0
win against FK Austria Wien.

Uphill task
A goal in each half from Dutch international
Huntelaar, sandwiching a strike from Armenian
substitute Edgar Manucharyan, gave the Amsterdam side
a comfortable victory and inflicted a second heavy
group-stage defeat on Austria. They had lost 4-1 at
home against SV Zulte Waregem on Matchday 1 and
newly-appointed coach Georg Zellhofer now faces an
uphill task in their remaining games.

Aggressive start
Any doubts over whether Ajax would have the stomach
for the competition after being denied a UEFA
Champions League place by FC København in the third
qualifying round were dispelled as they went on the
offensive at the Amsterdam ArenA. Huntelaar and Wesley
Sneijder both shot wide, before each threatened again
with a header and a free-kick respectively.

Manucharyan scores
Huntelaar finally broke the deadlock after 35 minutes,
latching on to Hedwiges Maduro’s flick-on from a
Kenneth Perez set-piece. They continued to dominate
after the break and Austria’s Hungarian goalkeeper
Szabolcs Safar had to punch away a Perez effort before
Manucharyan – on for Maduro – doubled Ajax’s
advantage, converting a Sneijder cross with his right
foot after 65 minutes.

Late flourish
Huntelaar completed the rout three minutes later,
diverting Perez’s free-kick into the net with his
head. Markus Kiesenebner had a rare attempt for
Austria which whistled wide but it remained largely
one-way traffic. Safar did well to deny Huntelaar a
hat-trick after good work from Urby Emanuelson and
Zdenĕk Grygera then hit the bar as Ajax kept
pushing forward.

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