Struggling AZ will have to work hard next week to reach the group stage

From second one it didn’t work out at AZ. For example, the first deep ball after kick-off immediately ended up in no man’s land. That seemed to be the prelude to a very mediocre first half. Only a few times did the Alkmaar team appear dangerous in front of the Norwegian goal. Jens Odgaard was able to score twice with a little more sharpness, but the Danish attacker did not have his sights sharp. Fortunately, that also applied to SK Brann’s attackers in front of Mathew Ryan, but as often this season, the Australian goalkeeper is a major obstacle.

Classic

The home team mainly lacked pace and creativity. The loss of director Jordy Clasie was palpable in the two-thirds filled AZ stadium. The captain from Haarlem is injured and saw from the stands that his replacement Djordje Mihailovic could not make his mark in midfield.

Under a light whistling concert, the AZ players went to the dressing room. After probably a good pep talk from trainer Pascal Jansen, the start in the second half unfortunately did not go much better. After fifteen minutes of play, AZ even fell behind. Niklas Castro pushed the ball diagonally into the left corner past Ryan, 0-1.

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Lahdo

Jansen immediately responded with a triple substitution. With Kenzo Goudmijn, Mayckel Lahdo and Ernest Poku in the team, AZ again sought to attack. That led to a nice opportunity for Lahdo twenty minutes before the end. The Swede’s long shot just flew past the wrong side of the post.

Moments later, the Alkmaarders were doing well. A ball got stuck just in front of the Norwegian goal and Pantelis Hatzidiakos was there like the chickens. From close range, the likely soon to leave Greek headed the ball against the ropes.

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After the equalizer, AZ happily continued to attack. The Norwegians sometimes kept their target clean with art and flying. And so the evening ended very disappointingly for Jansen’s men.

Next Thursday in Bergen, Norway, AZ can make up for it. SK Brann – AZ then starts at 7 p.m. The winner of this diptych qualifies for the group stage of the Conference League. AZ will not play this weekend.

Setup AZ: Ryan; Sugawara, Hatzidiakos, Bazoer, Möller Wolfe, Mihailovic (Goudmijn/73), Mijnans, D. De Wit; Odgaard (Lahdo/73), Pavlidis, Van Bommel (Poku/73)