AZ picks up win against bottom-placed Cambuur after unnecessarily nervous closing stages

AZ did not give up any ground in the battle for the top positions in the Eredivisie. The Alkmaarers recorded a thrifty but deserved victory over bottom-placed SC Cambuur on Saturday night: 2-1.

Thanks to the win, coach Pascal Jansen’s team takes over second place from Ajax, which visits Vitesse on Sunday. AZ is approaching leader Feyenoord with three points. The leaders from Rotterdam will visit Fortuna Sittard on Sunday.

AZ got off to a difficult start and for a long time could not impose its will on Cambuur. The opening goal by Vangelis Pavlidis eventually came after Friesian ball loss in midfield, after which the Greek scored from about twenty meters with a placed shot.

In the second half, which was briefly interrupted at the start because of fireworks on the pitch, AZ was back and forth. A second goal by Pavlidis was disallowed due to offside, and moments later a nick by Jesper Karlsson was also disallowed for the same reason.

Wouter Goes doubled the score for AZ with his first premier league goal by scoring in the rebound after 73 minutes. AZ was heading for a simple win, but suddenly the fans of the club from Alkmaar were left scratching their butts.

Pantelis Hatzidiakos committed a silly foul on Remco Balk in the closing stages, after which former AZ player Bjørn Johnsen hit the penalty kick. It turned out to be the introduction to a nervous final phase.

A few minutes later, Cambuur also thought to equalize through Balk, but his goal was disallowed due to offside, much to AZ’s relief.

With an injury time of seven minutes, hectic moments followed in front of the AZ goal, but the three points remained in Alkmaar.