Unjustified penalty in injury time kills AZ against Bodø/Glimt

The Norwegian opponent was praised in advance because of the results achieved earlier this season. Bodø/Glimt, who beat AS Roma 6-1 and outclassed Celtic in the Conference League, were praised for their power-tiki-taka. Against the Alkmaarders it soon became apparent that both teams were evenly matched.

AZ, which started with Tijjani Reijnders and Hakon Evjen, kept the Norwegian steamroller under control. Trainer Pascal Jansen had to move because the longer injured Fredrik Midtsjø and Jordy Clasie, who turned out to be not fit enough on match day, were absent. Both Bodø/Glimt and AZ were sloppy with the ball in the opening phase, so that the battle took place in midfield. AZ emphatically sought space behind the defence, but a close-knit Norwegian defense with the lines close together kept Alkmaar’s attacking drive in check.

Pole

Bodø became dangerous for the first time via Amahl Pellegrino, but AZ had the biggest chance after half an hour via Vangelis Pavlidis. The Greek striker hit the post hard after a custom pass from Pantelis Hatzidiakos. Just before half time, Pellegrino was accurate on behalf of the Norwegians with a striking header: 1-0.

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After the break, the initiative mainly came from the controlling Alkmaarders. Still, the biggest chance for Bodø/Glimt was via Runar Espejord. The former player of sc Heerenveen shot after a nice attack against goalkeeper Peter Vindahl and in the rebound Dani de Wit prevented Pellegrino from scoring his second of the evening with a tackle.

Thanks to substitutes Zakaria Aboukhlal and Kamal Sowah, AZ got some more offensive impulses. That led to more opportunism and more threat. In the 73rd minute, that paid off in the equalizer via Aboukhlal. The right winger finished coolly after a nice attack over the right side with a leading role for a functional heel from former Bodø/Glimt player Hakon Evjen.

Unjustly

With that, the substitute seemed to give his team a point, but in the 90th minute it went painfully wrong for AZ. The referee decided to put the ball on the spot after an alleged foul by Hatzidiakos. However, the defender played the ball, but nevertheless Ole Solbakken was allowed to score a penalty. The striker knew how to handle that and shot Bodø/Glimt to the 2-1 victory.

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The return is next Thursday in Alkmaar. Then at 6.45 pm the kick-off is between AZ and Bodø/Glimt with the aim of a place in the quarterfinals of the Conference League.

AZ will play at home against FC Twente in the Eredivisie on Sunday evening at 8 p.m.

AZ setup: Vindahl; Witry (Sowah/60), Hatzidiakos, Martins Indi, Wijndal; Evjen, Reijnders, De Wit; Sugawara, Pavlidis (Aboukhlal/60), Karlsson