AZ was unable to follow up the good feeling after last week’s victory over Ajax. When visiting Sparta, Maarten Martens’ team did not get further than a draw: 1-1. Yukinari Sugawara scored the only Alkmaar goal halfway through the first half.
At AZ, Alexandre Penetra took over the central back spot from the suspended Riechedly Bazoer. The Portuguese formed the heart of the defense together with Wouter Goes and the duo hardly encountered any problems in the first quarter of the match. Sparta’s defense, on the other hand, had a much more difficult time with the mobility of the Alkmaar attackers.
In the 24th minute, AZ took a deserved lead after a beautiful attack over several drives. Sven Mijnans found Yukinari Sugawara, who had come along, who scored the 0-1 with a diagonal shot. Just before the end of the first half, Mathew Ryan had to stretch for a flaming long shot from Djevencio van der Kust. Thanks to the goalkeeper’s fingertip, AZ went into halftime with a lead.
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In the second half, AZ remained the better team for a long time. After almost an hour of play, Vangelis Pavlidis was close to scoring his 22nd league goal. However, the Greek striker’s effort was tapped onto the crossbar by Sparta goalkeeper Nick Olij. Moments earlier, goalscorer Sugawara had been left injured. Finn Stam was his replacement and made his debut in the first team of AZ.
Everything or nothing
After an hour of play, the team from Rotterdam suddenly looked better. First Ryan had to stretch on a header from Tobias Lauritsen, but not much later the Australian goalkeeper was beaten. Arno Verschueren headed Charles-Andreas Brym’s cross into the ropes: 1-1.
After the equalizer, Maarten Martens brought on Lequincio Zeefuik to the team to force a victory. The attacker, who came over from FC Volendam this winter, acted as a battering ram next to Pavlidis in the striker. Pavlidis was closest to the winning goal in the final phase. The top scorer’s effort from the crowded penalty area narrowly missed the post.
Due to the draw, AZ now sees FC Twente ahead in the battle for third place. The competitor from Enschede won 1-2 against Vitesse earlier in the evening. With ten games to go, the gap between the two teams has increased to seven points.
AZ setup: Ryan; Sugawara (Stam/56), Goes, Penetra, Wolfe (M. De Wit/84); Belic (Zeefuik/84), Clasie, De Wit; Van Bommel (Poku/76), Pavlidis, Mijnans (Van Brederode/76)
