AZ suffered a loss of points at Excelsior on Saturday. The Alkmaarders did not get further than a 1-1 draw. Vangelis Pavlidis remained without a goal for the first time this Eredivisie season. Go Ahead Eagles rose to fifth place in the Eredivisie thanks to a win over Vitesse.
AZ had a difficult first half in Rotterdam. The home club had a great chance through striker Troy Parrott after half an hour of play, but his header was saved by AZ goalkeeper Matthew Ryan. Shortly after halftime, the game stopped for a while after a cup was thrown onto the field from the away section.
After that, the Alkmaarders were better, but they kept coming up against Stijn van Gassel. The Excelsior goalkeeper had no answer to a Lahdo bet after 72 minutes. The Swedish AZ attacker saw his bet taken off the line by an Excelsior player. But the ball turned out to have crossed the line after all: 0-1.
AZ did not come further, meaning that Pavlidis finished a league match without a goal for the first time this season. It seemed enough for an Alkmaar victory, but Excelsior fought back to 1-1. Cisse Sandra tapped the ball in from close range.
AZ is now seven points behind the leader. However, coach Pascal Jansen’s team has played one game less, because the game with NEC (1-2 score) was abandoned on Sunday after NEC striker Bas Dost collapsed. The Alkmaarders will visit Aston Villa in the Conference League on Thursday.
Go Ahead climbs to fifth place
Go Ahead Eagles climbed to fifth place in the Eredivisie on Saturday evening. The team of coach Rene Hake won 4-1 against Vitesse in a soaking wet Adelaarshorst. Willum Willumsson ended the game just before half time with a spot-on shot into the roof of the goal.
After an hour of play, Oliver Edvardsen scored the second Deventer goal, thanks to an error by Eloy Room. The Vitesse goalkeeper passed the ball completely wrong and saw Edvardsen’s ball disappear into the goal.
After play was temporarily halted due to a cup on the field, Go Ahead struck for the third time. Victor Edvardsen made it 3-0. Marco van Ginkel returned the ball with a spot-on shot, after which Willumson made the final score 4-1 with his second goal.
Go Ahead recorded its fifth win of the season and are in fifth place. Vitesse continues to struggle and is in sixteenth place in the Eredivisie after eleven games.
The post first appeared on www.nu.nl