Unrecognizably weak AZ slips through the eye of the needle against Quick Boys

Quick Boys, the current number three in the second division, started the match without hesitation and immediately became dangerous from a counter in the opening phase. The breakout on the right came at the edge of the penalty area at the feet of Midwouder Guus Offerhaus. However, the West Frisian midfielder took too much time to strike.

After ten minutes it was Vangelis Pavlidis who fired at the goal for the first time on behalf of AZ. The Greek’s attempt went straight into the hands of the Katwijk goalkeeper, but it did mark the start of a period of dominance for the Alkmaarders. Dani de Wit, Ruben van Bommel, Mayckel Lahdo and Thiago Dantas all had a good opportunity to score the opening goal in the space of fifteen minutes.

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Even after half an hour of play, AZ had most of the ball and Pascal Jansen’s team remained the most threatening. However, it was often necessary to be careful during the transition. Quick Boys threatened to come out dangerously on several occasions, but the Katwijkers lacked a good final pass. Both teams went to the locker room for halftime without scoring.

Playing to pieces

After tea, Quick Boys immediately had a good opportunity. Nick Broekhuizen was given an opportunity on a pass from Sem van Duijn. The visitors’ striker just couldn’t get his shot between the posts. After the break, AZ had the greatest difficulty in making the play. This was largely due to the low ball tempo the team used.

Quick Boys took full advantage of AZ’s weak play by scoring after exactly an hour of play. Nigel Ogidi Nwankwo thrilled the packed away section by scoring the deserved 0-1. The wing defender took full advantage of laconic defending by Bazoer.

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The match was then stopped for some time because plastic cups were thrown onto the field and fireworks were set off while celebrating the opening goal. After ten minutes the players returned to the field and AZ still had half an hour to repair the damage suffered.

In the 70th minute there was a big sigh of relief in the stadium when Dani de Wit headed in the equalizer. The footballer from Bovenkarspel received the ball ready-made on the head after a tight cross from Bruno Martins Indi. Not much later the ball was back in Quick Boys’ goal. This time it was substitute Ernest Poku who scored after a quick counter-attack. AZ had therefore repaired the damage within two minutes.

Cover on the nose

Both De Wit and Pavlidis had the opportunity to further expand the score after the 2-1 and Quick Boys’ resistance seemed to have been broken. Nevertheless, the 2,200 away fans who traveled with them continued to sing loudly for their club. In the last second of the match, the visitors were awarded one last corner kick. Substitute Leonard de Beste became Quick Boys’ hero by heading in the equalizer. It once again caused an explosion of joy in the away section and once again there were fireworks to be seen.

Referee Edwin van de Graaf therefore had to stop the match for a second time. Once again the players came out after ten minutes to start extra time. Myron van Brederode soon provided the new lead. The substitute simply slalomed through the enemy defense and shot hard and high: 3-2.

However, Quick Boys would rise from the proverbial dead for a second time just before the end. Sem van Duijn, the 19-year-old standout for Quick Boys, took advantage of some bumbling at the back of AZ and shot the ball beautifully behind goalkeeper Owusu-Oduro. The match went to penalties to determine a winner.

Relief

Dani de Wit was the first to connect on behalf of AZ, but failed miserably and saw his effort turned around by Paul van der Helm. Quick Boys did not do much better and both Bram Franken (former AZ) and Levi van Duijn missed. With the score at 3-2 in used penalties, it was Jens Odgaard who took the lead. The Dane then shot AZ very coolly and decisively to the quarter-finals of the cup tournament.

AZ setup: Owusu-Oduro; Kasius, Bazoer (Penetra/81), Martins Indi, Dekker (Esteves/43); D. De Wit, Clasie, Dantas (Odgaard/120); Van Bommel (Poku/56), Pavlidis, Lahdo (Van Brederode/56)