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Ajax threw away a 2-0 lead against sc Heerenveen on Sunday (2-2). The Amsterdammers looked convincing in the opening half-hour and had goalkeeper Marc ter Stegen partly to thank for that, with his sharp passing and the tempo he kept up. Heerenveen coach Robin Veldman and captain Maas Willemsen were both impressed by the Barcelona loanee.
Ajax needed 33 minutes on Sunday to open up a 2-0 lead. An own goal from Bernt Klaverboer and a wonderful strike by Abdellah Ouazane put the home side in control, but Jacob Trenskow dragged Heerenveen back into it on the stroke of half-time with a tremendous rocket. In the 82nd minute, Maxence Rivera scored the equaliser.
"We didn’t get it right at the start in terms of pressing," Willemsen began to ESPN. "We changed that after 20, 25 minutes. Then it became a lot better. We approached the one-on-one situations in a different way. We gave Ajax far too much time on the ball."
He also pointed to Ter Stegen. "They played out of our pressure very easily. I have to say the goalkeeper is pretty handy on the ball too," he said, referring to Ter Stegen. "He can play. I already knew that, of course, but on the pitch you experience it differently." Heerenveen ultimately picked up a deserved point. "I think it had to do with the changes."
Veldman was also full of praise for Ter Stegen, who not only dictated play from the back but also produced a number of fine saves. "He’s there to be a goalkeeper, isn’t he? I think he saves a very good free-kick, even if it isn’t right in by the post, but it was still struck pretty well. The one-on-one with Luca (Oyen, ed.)..."
More than that, Veldman highlighted how Ter Stegen shaped Heerenveen's press. "But especially in the way he forced us into making choices in the press, how long he could delay and how easily he plays a ball into the free space... We certainly didn’t have an answer to that in the first 20 minutes. Later he also played some balls over the press, or balls where we could jump with the full-backs."
"We simply had to react better to that," Veldman observed after seeing his side show resilience and make an excellent start to the season with Heerenveen. In the opening round of fixtures, FC Twente were swept aside (1-0), and now they have taken a point in the ArenA. "Always chest out," concluded the former Ajax youth coach with a laugh.