Disappointing draw for AZ against Malmö

Published on 30 november 11, 00:00

AZ started the match without Niklas Moisander who pulled out a day before the match with a hamstring injury. Ragnar Klavan was his substitute in defense while suspended midfielder Pontus Wernbloom was replaced by Erik Falkenburg.

AZ dominated the first twenty minutes of the match without really endangering Malmö goalkeeper Johan Dahlin. When Roy Beerens had to leave the pitch with a calf injury – Charlison Benschop replaced him – AZ lost hold of the match. A Pontus Jansson header nearly went wide and a Daniel Larsson shot was saved by Esteban.

After the break AZ took over again. Jozy Altidore (2x) and Charlison Benschop got good chances but were unlucky in finishing. The best opportunity came to Adam Maher who after deft footwork saw his effort saved by Dahlin.

In the final phase of the match AZ put more and more pressure on Malmö but the home team didn’t bow. AZ now is 14 European matches without away win. Because of Metalist Kharkiv’s 4-1 victory against Austria Wien AZ still is second in group G. A draw against Metalist on Thursday December 15th should be enough to go through to the next round.

MATCH STATISTICS:
Malmö FF- AZ 0-0

Lineup Malmö FF: Johan Dahlin; Ulrich Vinzents, Pontus Jansson, Daniel Andersson, Ricardinho; Jiloan Hamad, Miljan Mutavdzic (74. Wilton Figueiredo), Jeffrey Aubynn, Jimmy Durmaz (88. Malm); Daniel Larsson (65. Agon Mehmeti), Matthias Ranégie.?
Lineup AZ: Esteban; Etiënne Reijnen, Nick Viergever, Ragnar Klavan, Simon Poulsen; Erik Falkenburg (74. Celso Ortiz), Rasmus Elm, Adam Maher; Roy Beerens (22. Charlison Benschop), Jozy Altidore, Brett Holman (67. Johann Berg Gudmundsson).

Goals: -
Bookings: Figueiredo (Malmö FF).
Sent-off: -
Referee: Mark Courtney (NIr)
Attendance: 5.000