AZ ran into a nasty defeat in Zwolle. The team of trainer Pascal Jansen made little claim to the victory against last-placed PEC Zwolle. Ten minutes before the end, Vangelis Pavlidis seemed to give the Alkmaarders another point, but it went wrong after all: 2-1.
AZ had to do without Bruno Martins Indi in Zwolle. The central defender is struggling with an injury and was replaced by Sam Beukema. The most remarkable moment in the first half was for PEC keeper Kostas Lamprou. He turned out to be wearing exactly the same colors as AZ’s black away kit, so he had to wear a different outfit. That took several minutes.
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Earlier this season, PEC surprised Zwolle by striking twice within the first fifteen minutes. In the end, AZ won the game 3-2, but tonight was not possible in a flash like in Alkmaar. PEC had the best chance before the break through Gervane Kastaneer, but he shot wildly into the side net. The same Kastaneer gave the home team the lead five minutes after the break. Beukema was not well positioned with a cross from the right, as a result of which Kastaneer headed in the opening goal: 1-0.
AZ was then allowed to pinch themselves that the visor at Kastaneer was not completely sharp. The PEC attacker, who was the most menacing, had the second hit on his shoe. On the other hand, Jesper Karlsson got the chance to equalize after Pantelis Hatzidiakos pushed in well. However, the Swede waited too long and shot the ball straight into Lamprou’s hands.
Open final phase
A final offensive by the Alkmaarders then failed to materialize and PEC on the other side still had opportunities to further expand the score. AZ was disappointing in attacking terms and was easily trumped in the duels. Goalkeeper Peter Vindahl kept AZ going with a shot by Kenneth Paal. Out of nowhere, AZ equalized in the 81st minute via Vangelis Pavlidis. The Greek striker received the ball from the side, played out two opponents and shot the ball into the far corner: 1-1.
Suddenly there was an open game that could go either way. AZ got another great chance via Karlsson, because Lamprou did not clear the ball well, but almost immediately afterwards PEC scored the winning goal in the counterattack. Daishawn Redan shot the ball hard into the short corner from more than twenty meters: 2-1.
AZ is stuck with 55 points from 29 games due to the defeat. As a result, the gap with number three Feyenoord has risen to six points. The Rotterdammers won 1-4 at Heracles Almelo this afternoon. Number four FC Twente has three points more than AZ.
AZ setup: Vindahl; Witry (Sowah/58), Hatzidiakos, Beukema, Wijndal; Midtsjo (Reijnders/80), Clasie, De Wit (Aboukhlal/75); Sugawara, Pavlidis, Karlsson