In the Classic between Ajax and Feyenoord in the ArenA, the home side were clearly the strongest. Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman justly noted that the difference between both teams was not as big as the first match earlier this season, but Ajax dominated for the better part of the first half. Ajax coach Henk ten Cate surprised with his lineup by keeping Klaas Jan Huntelaar on the bench, starting Leonardo and fielding Ryan Babel as centre forward. ,,Klaas Jan is a little bit less on form'', said Ten Cate. ,,Babel and Huntelaar are both Holland internationals, and this time I chose Babel. We are lucky to have these two players for the position of striker. I think Ryan did well, he provided two assists.''

Ajax are also lucky to have Edgar Davids. Although the experienced midfielder misses match rhythm, he played an important role in his 'debut' match. Ten Cate: ,,It was a while ago that Edgar played 90 minutes. I asked him if he wanted to come out, but he insisted on finishing the match. Edgar is a driving force, he was coaching, talking right away. The other players responded to that.'' That was especially true for Wesley Sneijder. With Davids and the infatiguable Gabri behind him, Sneijder was free to go on the attack. That he also, perhaps inspired by Davids, acted as a catalyst made him even more valuable than he already was with his three goals. With his first goal, after which Ajax felt liberated and outclassed Feyenoord, Sneijder had some help of the opponent. His free kick went in the other direction when it hit the wall and goalkeeper Henk Timmer was beaten. After a good combination with Babel, Sneijder finished from up close and two minutes later Ajax seemed on their way to a huge win when Babel got the better of Serginho Greene and found Tom de Mul, who fired it in after a good move: 3-0 after 34 minutes.

With the comfortable lead, Ajax took it a bit easier, thus giving former Ajax player Angelos Charisteas the chance to get a goal back when he was free to score from up close: 3-1. Feyenoord derived some courage from the goal scored at the end of the half and pressed on in the first minutes of the second half. But then Ajax regained control and created a series of good chances. De Mul and Babel were given the opportunity to widen the gap, but only Sneijder managed to beat Timmer once more.

PSV's loss and Ajax's resounding win against Feyenoord mean that the diference with PSV is 'only' five points. Still a difference of two matches won, but the next few weeks promise to be exciting.