the conditions were so bad that when liverpool coach bob paisley came onto the pitch to attend to an injured player, shankly entered as well. he managed to give instructions to his players before he was spotted by the officials and ordered off the field. ajax player wim suurbier was carried off with a damaged ankle midway through the first half. he returned to the pitch, but suffered from a limp. ajax extended their lead in the 39th minute. liverpool defender tommy smith fouled cruyff outside the liverpool penalty area. the subsequent free-kick taken by frits soetekouw was not cleared by the liverpool defence and the ball rebounded to nuninga, who scored to give ajax a 3–0 lead. the conditions did not only affect the liverpool players. towards the end of the first half, the referee blew his whistle. swart, assuming that he had signalled half-time began to walk off the pitch, was stopped by a steward who pointed out that the match was still ongoing. he re-entered the pitch, received the ball and crossed the ball for nuninga, who scored to make it 4–0.