AZ suffered a defeat against West Ham United in the first semi-final match on Thursday evening. After the Alkmaarders initially took the lead, it eventually became 2-1 for the English in London. In a week’s time the Dutch will have a chance to take revenge.
The first half got off to a slow start, although in the 13th minute it was close for AZ. A nice swipe from West Ham striker Saïd Benrahma turned into a corner kick thanks to a great save by Matthew Ryan. On the other side of the field, the English got away less well in the 41st minute. With a shot from a distance, midfielder Tijjani Reijnders made it 1-0, helped by a blunder by keeper Alphonse Aréola.
After the break, the Alkmaarders had a number of difficult times against the English. It finally came in the 67th minute through a penalty that Benrahma was allowed to take after a foul by Ryan, which also earned the goalkeeper a yellow card. After this, the English took control of the game and in the 76th minute Mikhail Antoinio scored the winning goal after some rumbling in front of the goal: 2-1.
The return will be played in Alkmaar next Thursday. The winner will face Fiorentina or Basel in the final. The semi-final between those two teams ended in 2-1 for the Swiss on Thursday evening.