AZ remains proud leader after dominant victory over FC Utrecht

AZ started the duel in Utrecht with the same eleven names as in won the 3-2 Conference League game against Apollon Limassol. The opening phase was obvious for the Alkmaarders, who controlled the game and the midfield. However, there was immediate danger with FC Utrecht’s first attack. Milos Kerkez seemed to touch the ball with his hand in the penalty area and all of Galgenwaard thought of a penalty kick. Referee Gözübüyük decided after help from the VAR that there was no violation.

Pay for work

AZ was not put off by the scare and continued to play football forward. After exactly half an hour of play, Pascal Jansen’s team received a salary after work when Van Brederode fired on the Utrecht goal. The 19-year-old winger took care of the opening goal with a beautiful curled shot from the edge of the penalty area. FC Utrecht didn’t get much further than a harmless header from striker Bas Dost, as a result of which both teams went to the dressing room for the break at a 0-1 score.

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In the second half, the home side created more and more chances. After more than an hour of play, goalkeeper Hobie Verhulst had to act on a shot by Sander van de Streek and in the rebound, substitute Arthur Zagre just missed the crossing. Nevertheless, AZ continued to control the match in the second half and doubled the score in the 68th minute. Occasional right winger Yukinara Sugawara received the ball in the box, cut out a Utrecht defender and hit the crossroads hard: 0-2.

Dominant display

After AZ’s second goal, FC Utrecht was definitively paralyzed. In the final phase Modibo Sagnan still got an imposed chance, but the attacker shot high while Verhulst was far from his goal. In the injury time, Dost also had a great opportunity, but it killed the former international. Moussa Sylla scored 2-1 in the last minute, but the victory for AZ was no longer in danger.

Due to the win, AZ bounces back over Ajax in the standings and is once again the leader in the Eredivisie after nine matches played.

AZ setup: concealed; Hatzidiakos, Beukema, Dekker (Vanheusden/61), Kerkez (M. De Wit/87); Reijnders, Clasie, D. de Wit (Lahdo/87); Sugawara, Odgaard (Bazoer/61), Van Brederode (Karlsson/61)