Zakaria Aboukhlal of all people was the celebrated man in Alkmaar this afternoon. The substitute scored the 2-0 against sc Heerenveen just before time. Due to this result, AZ has qualified for the final of the play-offs. Earlier this week, AZ lost 3-2 in Friesland.
AZ started the return against sc Heerenveen with the same eleven names. And the confidence of trainer Pascal Jansen paid off early. After six minutes, Dani de Wit gave the Alkmaarders the lead. After a fine pass from Jordy Classie, the attacking midfielder rounds off skillfully: 1-0.
Text continues below the tweet.
AZ had to do without the injured Owen Wijndal. The captain also missed the first leg in Heerenveen last Thursday. His replacement Milos Kerkez made a hesitant impression in the opening phase. The Hungarian played the ball into Amin Sarr’s feet. Fortunately for Kerkez and AZ, the striker shot high over in a promising position.
brighter
Sarr’s chance was actually one of the Frisians’ few moments in the first half. In a very moderately filled stadium, AZ was a lot brighter and also clearly showed that they have more qualities than the visitors. Unfortunately for Jansen’s team, that didn’t lead to many great opportunities.
In the second half, the game went downhill a bit. The visitors got a little more space in the second half than AZ and fired a few times at Peter Vindahl’s goal. Ten minutes before the end, Sam Beukema had the best chance. The central defender headed just over from a cross from the left.
Abukhlali
Just before time, Jansen sent substitute Zakaria Aboukhlal into the field. The attacker was whistled by the audience, but moments later he received a deafening applause from the stands. Aboukhlal controlled the 2-0 and that is enough for AZ to qualify for the final of the play-offs.
At the moment it is still unclear who will be the opponent of the Alkmaarders in a diptych on Thursday. Tonight at 6 pm Vitesse and FC Utrecht will play the return. The Domstedelingen won the first leg 3-1.
AZ setup: Vindahl; Evjen, Hatzidiakos (Witry/61), Beukema, Martins Indi, Kerkez (Aboukhlal/86); Clasie, Mistdjø, De Wit; Evjen (Sugawara/61), Pavlidis, Karlsson.