Valencia kept their Champions League hopes alive by holding Dutch outfit Ajax to a 1-1 draw in a spectacular Group B second phase match last night.Goals in either half from a Kily Gonzalez penalty for Valencia and a header from Ajax's Petri Pasanen kept both teams in contention for a quarter-final berth.
The Dutch side lead the group but have the same number of points as Arsenal and qualification for the last eight now comes down to the final game next Wednesday when Ajax play away to AS Roma and Valencia - beaten finalists in two of the last three seasons - are at home to Arsenal.
Ajax started brightly but the Spaniards moved into the attack with Ajax's Romanian goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont saving a long-range Kily Gonzalez effort after 19 minutes following a quickly-taken free-kick.
Their efforts paid off as Kily Gonzalez put Valencia ahead after 28 minutes with a penalty awarded after Czech midfielder Tomas Galasek was pulled down by Francisco Rufete as he challenged for the corner.
Ajax's equaliser came after 57 minutes when Finnish defender Petri Pasanen headed in a corner.
The visitors held on for the draw with Ajax paying the price for missed opportunites.
AJAX: Lobont, Trabelsi, Chivu, Pasanen, O'Brien, De Jong (Van der Meyde 46), Galasek, Pienaar, Maxwell, Van der Vaart, Ibrahimovic. Subs Not Used: Didulica, Bergdolmo, Witschge, Sneijder, Yakubu, Boukhari. Booked: Van der Vaart, Pienaar, Chivu. Goals: Pasanen 56.
Valencia: Canizares, Pellegrino, Ayala (Marchena 88), Carboni, Reveillere, Albelda, Baraja, Gonzalez, Rufete, Carew (Mista 64), Aimar (Sanchez 84). Subs Not Used: Palop, Djukic, Vicente, De los Santos. Booked: Gonzalez, Baraja, Canizares, Pellegrino. Goals: Gonzalez 28 pen.
Referee: L Michel (Slovakia).
