Ajax in six-goal cruise

Ajax gave their fans a taste of what they used to be by thrashing Ghent 6-0 in the first leg of their Uefa Cup first round tie in Belgium yesterday.

Ajax gave their fans a taste of what they used to be by thrashing Ghent 6-0 in the first leg of their Uefa Cup first round tie in Belgium yesterday.

The Netherlands side, four times winners of the European Cup, tore apart Ghent's defence in a one-sided match. Ajax went ahead in the 17th minute through Shota Arveladze,following a five-man move, and extended their lead before the break with the first of two goals from Richard Knopper.

Ajax's creative midfieldrepeatedly caught the hosts flat-footed with long balls over their defence. The Dutch side's remaining goals came in the final 20 minutes through Jesper Gronkjaer, Rafael van der Vaart and Cedrik van der Gun.

The game was marred by ugly scenes on the terraces, with baton-wielding police preventing angry Ajax fans hurling ripped up seats on to the pitch in response to taunts from the Ghent fans.