Football: Ajax outrage: European round-up

TWO trains containing supporters of Utrecht, bound for their league match against Ajax in Amsterdam, were sent back home by Dutch police yesterday after fans chanted racist slogans and handed out anti-Semitic pamphlets.

Ajax's De Meer stadium had been daubed with racist graffiti and swastikas on Saturday night. The club have strong Jewish ties. The trains, stopped on the outskirts of the capital, contained nearly 1,000 fans; tables and seats were smashed on their return journey.

The match itself started 15 minutes late because the crowd of nearly 18,000 were subjected to body-searches. It ended in a 1-1 draw, Ajax needing a 43rd-minute penalty from Stefan Pettersson to save a point after Wlodzimierz Smolarek had put the visitors ahead 11 minutes earlier. Utrecht are third, Ajax fifth. PSV Eindhoven fell to their second defeat of the season, 3-1 at Volendam, and had their lead cut to one point as second-placed Feyenoord beat Groningen, also 3-1.

In Spain, a 27th-minute header from Real Madrid's Chilean centre- forward, Ivan Zamorano, earned a 1-1 draw in the city derby at Atletico, for whom Juan Sabas had scored in the 14th minute. Third-placed Real slipped to four points behind the leaders, Deportivo La Coruna, who beat Oviedo 2-1.