By Karen Iley
Rueters
Thursday, November 9, 2000; 6:33 PM

AMSTERDAM, Nov 9 – Ajax Amsterdam made an embarrassingly early exit from the UEFA Cup on Thursday after missing a penalty and managing only a 2-2 draw against unfancied Lausanne Sports.

Lausanne go through to the third round 3-2 on aggregate, having outclassed the Dutch side in both legs.

"Lausanne completely deserved to win," Ajax coach Co Adriaanse told a news conference.

The four-times European champions opened the scoring in the 17th minute and looked capable of getting the two-goal margin they needed to progress to the third round.

"We had the perfect scenario after going 1-0 up after 17 minutes," Adriaanse said.

A measured pass from Nigerian Pius Ikedia found striker Shota Arveladze who easily converted from close range.

Although the same partnership threatened in the rest of the first half, assisted at times by Nikos Machlas when he managed to get past big defender Daniel Puce, they failed to hit the target.

The early momentum didn't last. The attackers squandered chances, the defence became careless and it seemed only a matter of time before the visitors caused an upset.

"After the first goal we should have scored two or three, but it became harder, especially as our defenders didn't play well," Adriaanse said. Lausanne forward Javier Mazzoni, who stunned Ajax with a 38th minute goal in the first leg, scored again in the 38th minute with a thumping right foot shot to level the match going into the break.

In the second half a suspect tackle by Aron Winter on substitute Massimo Lombardo earned the former Dutch international a yellow card and the Swiss visitors a penalty, which Marcin Kuzba easily converted.

Ajax substitute Cedric van der Gun then pulled one back a minute later as the home side embarked on a final assault on goal.

They were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the 85th minute when Daniel Puce appeared to handle the ball in the box.

Ajax were clearly missing injured midfielder Richard Witschge, defender Ferdi Vierklau and striker Richard Knopper.

Romanian international Christian Chivu, recovered from a groin injury, had a perfect chance to put Ajax ahead in extra time when the referee pointed to the spot following a Puce foul on on Van der Gun, but his weak attempt was easily saved by Lausanne goalkeeper Eric Rapo.

The future for the young Ajax side, with an average age of around 23, mus now lower their sights.

Instead of clashes against the likes of Inter Milan and Barcelona, Ajax, currently eighth in the Dutch league, can look forward to lowly De Graafschap in the league on Sunday.