AZ booked a hard-fought victory at Vitesse: 0-1. Trainer Pascal Jansen had probably hoped that his team wasted less energy towards the European confrontation with Lazio Roma. “It was a bit of a squeeze,” says AZ midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.
Jansen thought the fighting spirit that AZ showed until the end was one of the plus points of the duel in the Gelredome. After Jesper Karlsson’s opening goal, the Alkmaarders had several chances to expand the score, but because that did not happen, they had to survive in the end. “You will also have to sacrifice and fight in certain phases,” says Jansen.
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Load of shoulders
The celebrated man was Jesper Karlsson. With a hit long shot in the first half, he was ultimately the match winner. It was striking that almost the entire team cheered along with the Swede after the goal. Karlsson seemed to have taken quite a load off his shoulders, trainer Pascal Jansen also acknowledges. “Everyone realizes he’s looking.”
