PSV masterclass in Amsterdam | Can Ruben van Bommel match his father?

On 20 March 2005, PSV played in the 26th round the away match on the visit to Ajax. At that time, the men from Amsterdam were the reigning national champions, but they had already long known that they would be dethroned by a rock-solid PSV led by Guus Hiddink.

That Sunday afternoon, PSV issued an extra statement in Amsterdam by waltzing over Ajax. The match began in advance with a minute of silence in memory of Rinus Michels.

Michels, as a coach, had successful periods with Ajax and later also with the Netherlands national team. Under the leadership of De Generaal, Oranje won the European Championship again in 1988 and reached the World Cup final in 1974.

From the start of the match, PSV quickly took the initiative, but great chances remained out until midway through the first half. In the end, it was Phillip Cocu who, on an assist from Andre Ooijer, managed to make it 0-1 in the 24th minute with his header and thereby broke the game open.

After that, Ajax went looking for an equalizer, but the Amsterdam side couldn’t create any big chances. Through right-back Hatem Trabelsi, Danny Blind’s team did get a big chance, but the defender’s effort went just wide.

After that, it was Mark van Bommel’s day. Just before halftime, the captain made it 0-2 after a long throw-in by Cocu, who then had the ball reach Van Bommel via Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, and the midfielder drilled it in at an angle.

A little more than a quarter of an hour after the restart, the born Maasbrachter completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute by converting a penalty, and in the 59th minute he fired the ball behind goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont to set the final score at 0-4. Between the two goals by the midfielder, goalkeeper Heurelho da Silva Gomes still had to make a save with a header from John Heitinga.

After 0-4, Guus Hiddink’s team was never in trouble, and PSV saw the match out. Just before full time, Ajax were still close to a consolation goal via Steven Pienaar, but the South African’s effort ultimately hit the post.

Thanks in part to this victory, PSV took a major step toward the club’s eighteenth national title in its history. To this day, PSV’s win is the biggest victory in the Johan Cruijff Arena.

Now, 21 years later, an Ajax - PSV match is on the schedule again and this time Ruben van Bommel is in the PSV kit. Van Bommel is, to date, the biggest standout for PSV this season, despite the fact that the winger was severely injured more than a year ago.

Perhaps Ruben will still ride his form into Amsterdam and match father Mark by scoring a hat-trick in Amsterdam. Van Bommel senior, at least, knows how it’s done.