AZ loses at Villa Park

Published on 09 november 23, 23:03

AZ made some changes to their lineup for the European match compared to the game against Excelsior. Ibrahim Sadiq and Ruben van Bommel both started in the lineup.

Offside Goal
Aston Villa seemed to start well and thought they had taken the lead within three minutes. Clément Lenglet headed in after the ball came back from a corner. However, the Portuguese VAR determined offside, and an early English goal was disallowed.

Alkmaarders find their rhythm
Despite a good opening phase from The Lions, Pascal Jansen's team managed to find their groove in a nearly sold-out Villa Park. Sadiq was sent deep, and the right-winger delivered a ready-made cross to Vangelis Pavlidis. However, the Greek striker couldn't find the net. Shortly before that, Mathew Ryan kept AZ in the game with a stretched save on a long-range shot from Youri Tielemans, tipping it skillfully aside.

Disallowed goal
Just before half-time, AZ seemed to take the lead. After a brilliant attack, Mijnans received the ball from Pavlidis, and the Greek scored. However, Mijnans was in an offside position, so the goal was disallowed. Before halftime, AZ pushed forward, resulting in several more chances. However, Pavlidis encountered Martinez's fists, and a shot from Sugawara went wide. The first half ended 0-0.

Viva Vangelis
AZ managed to continue their good play into the second half. Immediately after the break, the Alkmaar team deservedly took a 0-1 lead. After a beautiful pass from Riechedly Bazoer, Pavlidis faced the Argentine goalkeeper one-on-one. The Greek didn't hesitate and scored in the short corner for the 0-1 lead.

Reversed
AZ couldn't enjoy the lead for long. After 62 minutes, Aston Villa got a corner, where the Villa player really touched the ball last. Diego Carlos headed in from that corner for the equalizer. Djordje Mihailovic came close to scoring for AZ, but the substitute couldn't get a shot off in a promising position. On the other side, Ollie Watkins was deadly from close range. The striker headed in the 2-1, sealing the final score.

MATCH SUMMARY 
Aston Villa - AZ 2-1 (0-0)
UEFA Europa Conference League

Aston Villa Lineup: Emiliano Martinez; Diego Carlos (90+1. Pau Torres), Ezri Konsa (74. Matty Cash), Clément Lenglet, Lucas Digne; Leon Bailey (90+1. Bertrand Traore), John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans (74. Douglas Luiz), Moussa Diaby (74. Nicolò Zaniolo); Ollie Watkins.

AZ Lineup: Mathew Ryan; Yukinari Sugawara, Riechedly Bazoer, Bruno Martins Indi, David Møller Wolfe; Jordy Clasie (88. Tiago Dantas), Sven Mijnans (88. Jens Odgaard), Dani de Wit (69. Djordje Mihailovic); Ibrahim Sadiq (69. Ernest Poku), Vangelis Pavlidis, Ruben van Bommel (69. Myron van Brederode).

Goal Scorers: 52. Vangelis Pavlidis 0-1, 61. Diego Carlos 0-2; 81. Ollie Watkins 2-1.

VAR: Hugo Miguel.