Despite Pavlidis’ eighth goal, AZ suffers its first loss of points

With the same eleven starting players as last Sunday against PEC Zwolle (0-3), AZ immediately showed on its own field that there was little to gain for Heracles. The constant pressure on the Almelo goal led to the opening goal in the thirteenth minute. Nice cross with the right foot from right back Yukinari Sugawara resulted in a breeze for Vangelis Pavlidis. The Greek striker scored the eighth goal of this early season from close range.

Record

Pavlidis is therefore now the only player in the entire AZ history to score in the first six games of the season in a row. Last weekend he equaled this ancient record of John Metgod. The former defender did this in the 1977-1978 season.

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After the opening goal, AZ’s pressure remained high. However, coach Pascal Jansen’s men did not manage to be really dangerous. On the other hand, the Alkmaar team had nothing to fear from the visitors.

Unhappy Ryan

Yet the Alkmaar football world suddenly looked very different after the break. First, Jansen had to replace his injured defender Riechedly Bazoer in the 47th minute and shortly afterwards, with Bruno Martins Indi in the team, AZ conceded a goal out of nowhere, 1-1. The actions of goalkeeper Mathew Ryan looked quite clumsy. And that is not the first time this season that the Australian goalkeeper has acted unluckily.

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Then the Alkmaarders were somewhat woken up, partly by the clearly present supporters on the Ben-side. Unfortunately, AZ did not reach the level of the first half. Many careless losses of ball prevented the home team from getting into the right rhythm. Pavlidis had the best chance of winning five minutes before the end. Face to face with Almelo goalkeeper Michael Brouwer, however, the top scorer missed.

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Due to the loss of points, AZ remains second with two points less than leader PSV. This weekend AZ will host Fortuna Sittard at home. The match starts on Sunday at 4:45 PM and can be followed live on NH Radio.

AZ setup: Ryan; Sugawara, Bazoer (Martins Indi/47), Penetra, Møller Wolfe; Clasie, D. De Wit (Odgaard/80), Mijnans (Goudmijn/68); Lahdo (Sadiq/46), Pavlidis, Van Brederode (Van Bommel/68).