AZ has not won for the second home game in a row. It was 1-0 against Sparta Rotterdam tonight thanks to a goal from Tobias Lauritsen. As a result, the gap with PSV has increased to five points in the battle for second place. Anderlecht are waiting for the quarterfinals of the Conference League on Thursday.
The atmosphere was still good before the match, after the AZ of the season, including Kees Kist and Krysten Nygaard, was put in the spotlight. They saw that Mexx Meerdink, who started for the first time in the base, got the first shooting opportunity. After a nice solo by Tijjani Reijnders, Meerdink was free. He found Nick Olij on his way. AZ then became stronger and stronger. Sven Mijnans (former Sparta) forced Olij to make a save in the first fifteen minutes.
The game collapsed after the strong opening phase and it was only in the last part that there were opportunities for the Alkmaarders again. For example, Milos Kerkez headed wide from a Meerdink cross and a shot by Jens Odgaard did not reach the goal. Sparta waited slyly and struck hard in injury time. Koki Saito gave a cross to Tobias Lauritsen, who hit the target: 0-1.
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Trainer Pascal Jansen had seen enough after fifteen minutes in the second half and replaced two of his three attackers. Djordje Mihailovic and Meerdink went to the side, Vangelis Pavlidis and Mayckel Lahdo came in. Despite the changes, the Spartans were the first to become dangerous after the break. Goal scorer Lauritsen first shot full at Mathew Ryan and moments later his bet ended on the crossbar. AZ got away well from that.
The Alkmaarders insisted more and more. For example, Tijjani Reijnders was able to lash out from the edge of sixteen, his shot went over. Odgaard had the equalizer moments later for the header. However, Olij saved feline at close range. Double bad luck for the attacker, because moments later he headed hard on the crossbar from close range. Yukinari Sugawara shared in his teammate’s malaise. The Japanese also shot the post from close range.
Due to the defeat, PSV has five points more than AZ. As a result, second place is getting further and further out of sight. Anderlecht are waiting for the quarterfinals of the Conference League on Thursday.
Setup AZ: Ryan; Sugawara, Beukema, Hatzidiakos (Bazoer/69), Kerkez; Reijnders, Clasie, Mijnans; Odgaard, Meerdink (Pavlidis/58), Mihailovic (Lahdo/58)