FC Groningen is not exactly the dream opponent of Pascal Jansen’s AZ. His debut as head coach was ruined by a home defeat (1-2) against the team of Danny Buijs, after which a draw (0-0) and a 2-0 loss followed in the Euroborg.
The biggest problem AZ ran into against the northerners time and again? Jansen, before the game: “It is a team that, with its strategy and way of fighting, emphasizes on disrupting the opponent.”
For three minutes the guests seemed to have evil plans, but after the lightning-fast red card from Neraysho Kasanwirjo (the young center defender planted his kicks under the knee of Dani de Wit), the attacking intentions of the Groningers were over.
The red card that Martin van den Kerkhof handed out was the fastest since February 3, 2015, when Kevin Blom treated the then PSV player Jetro Willems to red after 29 seconds (!) in the away game at NAC.
Goal attempt Jesper Karlsson, Groningen player Mike te Wierik bothers him.
ⓒ ProShots
With ten against eleven, Buijs decided to build a wall for goalkeeper Peter Leeuwenburgh. The AZ players do not like that, who also had to do without the injured midfielder Fredrik Midtsjø and striker Vangelis Pavlidis. Pavlidis was just as good in December with four goals.
AZ thought they had already made a breach in the Groningen wall after ten minutes, after Yukinari Sugawara in an unparalleled way chased a finely cut cross from Jesper Karlsson into the ropes. The scoreboard read 1-0 for two minutes, until the VAR on duty realized that De Wit had been offside in the run-up to the goal. After the break, the Alkmaar siege of the Groningen bastion continued cheerfully and after the young eighteen-year-old substitute Yusuf Barasi was twice close to a hit, goldcrest Karlsson struck with a left hand. mop in the top corner. What a purchase the Swede is, who already played his fiftieth game for AZ against FC Groningen. With 19 goals and 15 assists, Karlsson can provide top figures.
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