Home » Sport » Mistaken Aboukhlal shoots AZ to the final play-offs for the last European ticket | Football

Mistaken Aboukhlal shoots AZ to the final play-offs for the last European ticket | Football

sport">Aboukhlal celebrated his goal provocatively and frantically for the profession of the fans who whistled him en masse during the previous home game. What a revenge from the Moroccan.

sport">AZ had to do without Owen Wijndal, just like in the away game in Friesland. The captain is again struggling with groin complaints, an injury he sustained around the European Championship last year.

sport">Heerenveen had traveled to Kaasstad with the necessary self-confidence, but that confidence took a nice blow early in the match when the first goal against was already in the ropes. AZ playmaker Jordy Clasie sent Dani de Wit into the depths and then saw the shadow striker do everything right.

Vangelis Pavlidis whips up the crowd after the 1-0.

Vangelis Pavlidis whips up the crowd after the 1-0.

COPY

sport">Wijndal’s absence made itself felt when young stand-in Milos Kerkez sent a hospital ball to Clasie. Amin Sarr snatched the ball from Clasie, had a free passage to Peter Vindahl but shot over in a very promising position. A pass to Sydney van Hooijdonk would also have been worth considering.

sport">The remainder of the first half was a copy of the first leg in the Abe Lenstra Stadium. AZ played better, had the better of the game but forgot to push through. The guests continued to watch the counterattack in the half-empty AFAS Stadium. Anas Tahiri cracked a shot by Clasie after a good attack plan via Kerkez and Fredrik Midtsjo and Heerenveen’s number 10 Tibor Halilovic could have come up with something more inventive in a quick breakout than to walk over the back line.

VAN OTTELE

sport">After the break, in which Dresevic was left injured in the dressing room of the guests, the guests had to deal with a new center defender: Syb van Ottele. Heerenveen apparently had to fine-tune the organization, because AZ came through the center twice within seven minutes. Vangelis Pavlidis saw his shot blocked by Sven van Beek, Jesper Karlsson shot wide.

sport">However, Heerenveen, fueled by the accompanying fans, held its ground, keeping the belief in a stunt alive. Especially when Pavlidis was able to hit from close range on the hour, but Van Ottele acted faster. The Greek has been referred to as the Eredivisie player who hit the goal most often in 2022 ‘in all competitions’: fourteen times.

PETER VINDAHL

sport">In the 67th minute, the Heerenveen attackers also gave a sign of life. Sarr, the man of the scenic 2-2 in the first leg, tried to outwit Vindahl in the long corner, but the tall Dane made a good save. In the away match, Vindahl hadn’t looked good prior to Van Hooijdonk’s opening goal, as he can’t look back on a solid debut season in Alkmaar.

sport">Ten minutes before the end, Sam Beukema could have made it a lot easier for his team, but the center defender, drawn forward, nodded at Karlsson’s suggestion from close by. Specialist Beukema has sometimes headed better on target.

STRIKING ENTRANCE

sport">In the 87th minute there was a striking substitution. At least, the way Zakaria Aboukhlal entered the field. The attacker, maligned by the public, waved his thumb at the hard core of the Alkmaar supporters when entering the field. The fans reacted differently to this.

sport">A minute later, the Moroccan international waved again to the supporters behind the goal and even took off his shirt, but after his unerring goal scored the 2-0. The goalscorer, happy and angry at the same time, was enthusiastically applauded. AZ’s opponent in the final of the play-offs for a European ticket will later be known as FC Utrecht in Arnhem defends a 3-1 lead against Vitesse.

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