Feyenoord has won the battle for the lead. In De Kuip, the top match against AZ ended in 2-1. For a long time there was nothing wrong for the Alkmaarders. After a 1-0 lead thanks to an own goal from Feyenoord, the team from Rotterdam struck in the stoppage time of the first half via Jahanbakhsh and in the 90th minute via Pedersen. The gap between AZ and the leader has now risen to five points.
AZ coach Pascal Jansen chose the same eleven players who rolled up Excelsior 5-0 last Friday. That meant that Sven Mijnans started in midfield and Wouter Goes in the center of the back. The fit Djordje Mihailovic started on the bench again.
Feyenoord, fanatically supported by the legion, started the match energetically. AZ was pushed back into their own half, but survived the opening phase without giving away any major opportunities. After fifteen minutes, AZ got into the game better and Jansen’s team became dangerous in quick succession via Sven Mijnans who played keeper Timon Wellenreuther to the side, but his cross reached Quilindschy Hartman instead of a teammate. A minute later, a long shot from Milos Kerkez disappeared via Lutsharel Geertruida over the home team’s goal.
Controlling AZ
The third attempt was a hit: Javairô Dilrosun headed a corner from Jesper Karlsson past his own keeper: 0-1.
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AZ then kept control of the game and chances were scarce. Just before the break, Jahanbakhsh posed the greatest danger. The former AZ player soloed through the Alkmaar defense and offered Quinten Timber a shooting opportunity, but that ball went wide of the goal. In stoppage time it was still equal when Oussama Idrissi passed the ball and Jahanbakhsh won the header against Kerkez and scored the 1-1.
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After the break, Feyenoord tried to continue, but AZ remained upright playing football effortlessly. The team from Rotterdam scored 2-1 after exactly one hour of play, but the Mexican was offside. AZ became dangerous with balls from behind that were placed behind the Feyenoord defense. Yukinari Sugawara did that once on Vangelis Pavlidis, who just couldn’t control the ball. Karlsson was sent off, but ran into Wellenreuther.
In the 82 minute, Giménez became dangerous again. Hartman’s cross headed the striker wide of Mathew Ryan’s goal. It was a phase in which the home team started and the forces at AZ seemed to have drained away. Pedersen took an effective shot from a deflected corner in the 90th minute. The ball sailed over Ryan in the goal, causing AZ to go under after all. The gap with leader Feyenoord is now five points.
Setup AZ: Ryan; Sugawara, Goes, Hatzidiakos, Kerkez (M. de Wit/69); Reijnders (Mihailovic/84), Mijnals, Clasie; Odgaard, (Van Brederode/78) Pavlidis and Karlsson