AZ has lost a visit to West Ham United. The Alkmaarders were entitled to more, but a penalty and a klutsgoal killed the team (2-1). Tijjani Reijnders did score AZ’s opening goal. Despite the defeat, AZ has certainly not been eliminated yet, the return is in Alkmaar next week.
After a quiet opening phase, the home team got the first shot opportunity. West Ham undertook a counter, after which Saïd Benrahma was able to lash out. AZ goalkeeper Mathew Ryan just tapped the ball out of his goal. The Alkmaarders mainly kept possession of the ball after this and were very precise in their passing. As a result, the Londoners could hardly create any danger.
Just before the break, AZ received wages for the game shown. Tijjani Reijnders shot beautifully from about twenty meters: 0-1. The VAR checked the goal, because Lucas Paqueta thought he was being pushed by defender Sam Beukema. The video referee judged the moment and saw no violation.
The cheering of the AZ fans in the picture. Text continues below the tweet.
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AZ held up well against West Ham and that was well deserved. The Hammers however, made themselves felt more after the break. Jarred Bowen’s shot went just wide of the mark. That turned out to be a warning shot, as the home team had an excellent chance to equalize. Ryan caused a penalty as he punched Bowen in the face. Benrahma got behind the ball and shot right: 1-1.
It then went from bad to worse for AZ. West Ham kept pushing. A corner kick from the Londoners was not well defended and ended up with Declan Rice. He passed Nayef Aguerd and the ball then went into the goal via Michail Antonio: 2-1. Benrahma could have hurt AZ even more in the final phase, but he shot high from close range.
Setup AZ: Ryan; Sugawara, Hatzidiakos, Beukema, De Wit; Clasie, Reijnders, Mijnans; Odgaard (Lahdo/68), Pavlidis, Van Brederode (Mihailovic/80)