Commitment, passion and struggle. That is what Kevin Hofland wanted from his players for the match against AZ. And also for the rest of the season. Willem II’s new trainer got what he asked for. The Tilburg team entered the battle with AZ full of passion. For a long time that seemed to yield three points, but due to a goal against in injury time, Willem II had to settle for a 2-2 draw.
During the half-time of the match, the ‘I got a feeling’ of The Black Eyed Peas sounded through the speakers of the Koning Willem II Stadium. Very often you hear that it will be ‘a good night’. Everyone in the stadium certainly had that feeling when Elton Kabangu managed to put the 2-0 on the scoreboard after more than fifteen minutes of play, ten minutes after Ché Nunnely’s opening goal. The energy that showed on the field with the players, was also there with the fans in the stadium. But the moment the song was played, you sensed a different feeling in the stands.
A few minutes earlier, Rob Dieperink whistled for a foul by Pantelis Hatzidiakos on Freek Heerkens: penalty kick. There was a lot of cheering, because at that moment the home team was having a very difficult time. Ten minutes before the break, Bruno Martins Indi had scored the connecting goal and AZ was emphatically chasing the equalizer. A penalty kick and a possible goal would give the troubled Willem II some more air in this match.
But in Zeist VAR Edwin van de Graaf looked at the images. He didn’t think it was a violation of Willem II’s captain and called Dieperink to the screen to judge for himself whether his first assessment was good. After seeing the footage, the referee reversed his decision. No penalty kick. And so only a difference of one goal at the start of the second half.
To make it more difficult for AZ, Hofland made a tactical change during the break. Heerkens was in midfield in the first half, but after the tea break formed a central defense trio with Wessel Dammers and Derrick Köhn.
At first, AZ had trouble playing through the built-up wall. After about fifteen minutes of play, the team from Alkmaar managed to find a gap in the Willem II defense twice. Yukinari Sugawara shot hard at Willem II’s goal after a good long ball. Through the hands of Timon Wellenreuther and the woodwork, the ball went over the back line. Not much later, Dani de Wit shot the post from a promising position – after a good combination with Vangelis Pavlidis.
The equalizer seemed only a matter of time at the time. But where you counted on a rush from AZ after those two dangerous moments, the visitors didn’t get much further than tapping the ball around without getting into a promising position. Time kept ticking away. And Willem II, who was really only busy with holding back and betting on a quick outbreak, was supported by the public more and more hopes for a real stunt.
That stunt was within reach. In injury time, however, things still went wrong for Willem II. From a corner, Zakaria Aboukhlal headed the ball past Wellenreuther into the goal. A stunt thus became a stunt. Beforehand, many people would probably have signed for a point against AZ, afterwards it is especially sour. It turned out not to be a good night after all.