AZ overcome Zwolle

Published on 15 december 12, 00:00

ZWOLLE - AZ defeated PEC Zwolle 2-1 away on Saturday thanks to Jozy Altidore who scored both goals. The home side went a man down in the latter stages of the game after Joey van den Berg was sent off.

Dirk Marcellis returned from a two match ban and Giliano Wijnaldum got the nod over Donny Gorter at left back. Marcellis orchestrated AZ's opening goal after his long pass was missed by Zwolle defender Gerard Aafjes and intercepted by Altidore who beat Zwolle 'keeper Diederik Boer after two bites of the cherry making it 1-0.

The early lead didn't seem to kick start Verbeek's men as Zwolle took control and almost equalized but Aafjes header flew over the bar after an Esteban mistake.

AZ double
After about 30 minutes, Altidore doubled the scoring for AZ making it 2-0. Aafjes lost the ball to Adam Maher who sent away Roy Beerens whose assist fell at Altidore's feet. The American striker finished the job making it his 11th goal of the season. Soon after, Wijnaldum got a golden opportunity to make it AZ's third but his effort went wide.

Zwolle claw back
After the break, Zwolle went on the hunt for a goal with Denni Avdic in the centre of attack and it was Avdic who scored for the hosts with a header after he was left completely unmarked in the penalty area.

Red card
Zwolle piled on the pressure but lacked cutting edge in front of goal and their last hope of getting something from the game vanished when Joey van den Berg received his marching orders for blatantly obstructing Altidore who was heading for his hat-trick.

AZ seal win
AZ held off Zwolle up until the final whistle and recorded a win after a depressing six matches without a win. With one league match to go before the winter break, AZ still are one point behind 11th-placed Heracles Almelo.

MATCH STATISTICS:

PEC Zwolle - AZ 1-2 (0-2)

Lineup PEC Zwolle: Diederik Boer; Frank Olijve (69. Ricardo Talu), Joey van den Berg, Gerard Aafjes, Rochdi Achenteh; Joost Broerse (46. Arne Slot), Jesper Drost, Wiljan Pluim; Fred Benson (79. Mustafa Saymak), Denni Avdic, Youness Mokhtar.

Lineup AZ: Esteban; Dirk Marcellis, Etiënne Reijnen, Nick Viergever, Giliano Wijnaldum (81. Donny Gorter); Adam Maher, Markus Henriksen, Viktor Elm; Roy Beerens, Jozy Altidore, Johann Berg Gudmundsson (86. Steven Berghuis).

Goals: 2. Altidore 0-1, 33. Altidore 0-2, 56. Avdic 1-2.

Bookings: Aafjes (PEC Zwolle), Wijnaldum, Henriksen (AZ).

Sent-offs: 77. Van den Berg (PEC Zwolle).

Referee: Jochem Kamphuis

Attendance: 11.061