NEC fails to pass Ajax due to big home defeat against AZ | Football

Dani de Wit opened the score for AZ in the sixteenth minute. The midfielder finished calmly after a smart pass from Vangelis Pavlidis between the legs of Mees Hoedemakers.

Eight minutes later, NEC had to deal with another setback. Defender Philippe Sandler, who is in the interest of Ajax and PSV, suffered a hamstring injury and was unable to continue.

After about an hour of play, Pavlidis doubled AZ’s lead. The Greek scored his 27th competition goal of the season with a beautiful shot after a pass from Mees de Wit reached him via an NEC defender. Shortly before, the striker cleverly let the ball run because he was offside.

AZ almost made it 0-3 moments later, but goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen made a beautiful save from a bet by Sven Mijnans. NEC created few big chances, but was close to the tying goal ten minutes before the end. AZ keeper Mathew Ryan tapped a high ball from Hoedemakers over the crossbar with his fingertips.

In injury time, Ernest Poku, who had just come on, extended the lead. The twenty-year-old attacker tapped in a cross from Myron van Brederode, which passed Pavlidis’s nose, and scored his first Eredivisie goal for AZ.

With a win, NEC would have taken over fifth place from Ajax, which drew against Excelsior (2-2) on Wednesday. Fifth place entitles you to participate in the second qualifying round in the Europa League. With three rounds still to go, the difference between NEC and Ajax is two points.

AZ is almost certain of fourth place, which provides a ticket for the group stage of the Europa League. The Alkmaarders have a nine-point lead over Ajax and can only lose fourth place in theory.