Pundits praise “magnificent” performance from AZ Alkmaar as “they had complete control against Tottenham” | OneFootball

AZ Alkmaar put in a “magnificent” performance on Thursday night against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League, winning 1-0 against the North London club thanks to an own goal from Lucas Bergvall. Analysts and media observers were unanimous about the Alkmaar club’s quality, and seemingly could’ve scored more in front of their own fans.

“AZ had complete control of the match’, was the glowing assessment of analyst Alex Pastoor at Ziggo Sport. “Tottenham Hotspur had a shot from Son and for the rest of the game, AZ had complete control. This is a magnificent performance. If they show the same maturity as in the away match against Galatasaray, they also have a good chance next week.”

“They did it as they often do: move the game from one side to the other and then look for the overlaps of the wing-backs”, Pastoor explained as he showed a number of videos of the dangerous Alkmaar team. “David Møller Wolfe in particular keeps running and they often did that from the switch. AZ came out of it very quickly a number of times.”

Khalid Boulahrouz saw a big difference between this AZ performance and the one in the group stage against the English in October. “AZ have become much better between these two matches, and especially more mature”, the former defender thought. “They rely on their own strength with a positive approach to the game. They were good on the ball, concentrated and made few mistakes. It was actually the perfect match, although they should have made it 2-0 or 3-0.”

“AZ kept the spaces small,” Boulahrouz continued. “Almost all the second balls were for AZ. It’s hard for you as an opponent to get into the game.”

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield