RKC Waalwijk remains at zero points after two league games. Coach Henk Fraser’s team was unable to beat AZ on Sunday afternoon: 1-3.
In the initial phase, the Alkmaarders gave it a lot of gas and RKC Waalwijk had trouble with that. That led to a few chances, but goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen kept his goal clean. On the other side, the lightning fast Denilho Cleonise broke through, but goalkeeper Mathew Ryan made the save. The visitors came closest to a goal via a corner from Yukinari Sugawara and a subsequent header on the crossbar.
It was half of Cleonise anyway, because with his speed he was a plague for the Alkmaar defense. Shortly before the break, he was at the basis of the opening goal. His shot landed on the hand of AZ midfielder Dani de Wit, after which referee Alex Bos pointed to the spot. Michiel Kramer knew what to do with this windfall and shot in hard. When celebrating the goal, he could not resist provoking the away supporters.
In the second half it was again AZ that started sharply. First striker Vangelis Pavlidis gave a warning with a lob, in the 54th minute it was hit by the Greek striker. Six minutes later, Dani de Wit shot the visitors to 1-2.
RKC Waalwijk was offensively impotent, the equalizer was never in the air. AZ gave nothing away in the back and in the front it kept lurking for the decisive 1-3. That fell in the 79th minute by Pavlidis again. Fraser tried to force something with a triple substitution, but there was no change in the score.
AZ is the leader in the Eredivisie due to the win, RKC Waalwijk is still waiting for the first point.