In between the European diptych with Lazio Roma, AZ won against FC Groningen. In a boring game it became 1-0. Jesper Karlsson provided a quick goal, which would eventually be the only one of the game. With that he was – just like against Vitesse – the match winner.
Fedde de Jong made his basic debut as a right back against FC Groningen. That had to do with the suspension of Yukinari Sugawara (too many yellow cards). Opposite his absence was the return of captain Jordy Clasie, who was suspended against Vitesse last week. Sugawara saw that his teammates had a flashy start.
Jesper Karlsson turned around and curled the ball from outside the box over Michael Verrips: 1-0. Despite the backlog, the visitors had the better chances. For example, Elvis Manu shot the ball on the post and goalkeeper Mathew Ryan had to make a feline save on a free kick from Tomas Suslov. The Alkmaarders did not get further than a long shot from Tijjani Reijnders.
Watch Karlsson’s goal below. Text continues below the tweet.
Just like in the first half, AZ had the first big chance after the break. Milos Kerkez steamed up and gave a delicate cross. Attackers Vangelis Pavlidis and Jens Odgaard could not put a foot against it. Sam Beukema made his comeback with the Alkmaarders after 64 minutes. The return of the defender was announced yesterday by trainer Pascal Jansen.
Sven Mijnans had the chance of 2-0 on a pass from substitute Djordje Mihailovic, but shot face to face with Verrips full on the goalkeeper. FC Groningen was tired and AZ made no effort to increase the score. Due to the narrow victory, the Alkmaarders again take over second place from Ajax. They will play against SC Heerenveen tomorrow. AZ defends a 2-1 lead against Lazio on Thursday evening.
Setup AZ: Ryan; De Jong (Beukema/64), Hatzidiakos, Goes, Kerkez (M. De Wit/64); Clasie, Reijnders, Mijnans; Odgaard (Mihailovic/64), Pavlidis (Barasi/77), Karlsson (Buurmeester/89)