AZ wins with pain and effort against Cambuur and stays in the trail of leader Feyenoord | Premier League

AZ seemed to be suffering on Saturday evening in Alkmaar from the big blow it had suffered exactly a week before in De Kuip when Feyenoord lost in the last minute. With this, there seems to be at least a line through the ambitious title aspirations of the club. And anyone who saw AZ in the first half in particular against low-flyer Cambuur must have thought that the Alkmaarders will no longer be involved in that title violence for the time being. The fact that it turned out well for AZ in the end was also due to the less than elevating vanguard of Cambuur, who seem to have such a hard time taking advantage of opportunities.

Cambuur had already come to Alkmaar with little self-confidence anyway. In Leeuwarden, trainer Sjors Ultee has not yet got things on track after he took over from club hero Henk de Jong after the winter break. Since then, the team has won five points from eight matches and a dismal eighteenth place is the result. Cambuur also started the match in Alkmaar in the knowledge that number seventeen FC Groningen won again for the first time in a long time and ends like this.

But secretly, trainer Ultee’s formation got many great opportunities in the first half – when it was not even the underlying match against number two AZ. In fact, it initially got the best attempts in Alkmaar. But also on Saturday evening, taking advantage of opportunities turned out to be a problem for the team that was difficult to combat. This time it was Michael Breij who missed opportunities for an opening goal.

After that it was the otherwise moderately playing AZ striker Vangelis Pavlidis who found the net again with a viewed shot from a distance. A goal by Jesper Karlson was canceled due to hands, but then it was 18-year-old Wouter Goes who scored his first goal for the club. Goes experienced a baptism of fire in De Kuip last week, which he endured well. Strangely enough, he seemed to play against Cambuur with more tension on his legs on Saturday.

Cambuur striker Bjørn Johnsen, who played little successfully at AZ on a blue Monday, brought the tension back into the game just before the end by using a penalty kick. After that it was still shivering for AZ to get through the seven minutes of injury time. Cambuur ended the game with ten men due to the second yellow card from Mees Hoedemakers.

AZ’s mediocre game will not inspire much confidence for the remainder of the competition in which it is necessary to try to keep up with Feyenoord. In any case, the win over Cambuur ensures that the team of trainer Pascal Jansen has passed Ajax in the rankings for at least a while. In between the Eredivisie worries, AZ will also travel to Rome next Monday for the Conference League match against Lazio. Enough to look forward to for the Alkmaarders, although the players will realize that against that stature opponents must show better form.