Feyenoord bounce back from Ajax defeat by beating AZ Alkmaar 3-2
Feyenoord bounced back from their 0-2 home defeat against Ajax in midweek by beating AZ Alkmaar 3-2 in De Kuip, Rotterdam, on Saturday night. Ibrahim Osman got the decisive goal after an own goal from David Moller Wolfe, and a goal from Luka Ivanusec gave Brian Priske’s side the lead.
It was the first match since Priske had announced that Timon Wellenreuther had lost his spot as number-one keeper to Justin Bijlow. The German was at fault for two goals against Ajax on Wednesday night, and this led to the change.
Feyenoord was the better side in the first half an hour without creating any clear-cut chances. Striker Julian Carranza had some difficult chances to finish from crosses, but none of them went in.
The closest the home side came to breaking the deadlock before the break came in the 38th minute. Ivanusec’s low effort was just about knocked wide by AZ goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro.
However, that does not mean that the halftime score was 0-0, as the visitors took the lead just before halftime. A long ball was misjudged by Thomas Beelen, which led to Bijlow coming out of his goal. But Moller Wolfe got there first before playing the pass across to Troy Parrot, who only had to tap it into the empty net.
Feyenoord were not sharp at the start of the second half, and they could have gone 2-0 down. Mayckel Lahdo found Sven Mijnans at the back post, but his header went over the goal.
But the scores were leveled just after the hour mark, with a very fortunate goal for the Rotterdammers. Igor Paixao attempted a cross into the box, but it hit Moller Wolfe before looping into the AZ goal.
It got worse for AZ when Feyenoord made it 2-1 a short while later. Carranza played a pass to Ivanusec, who made no mistake this time, calmly slotting it into the far corner.
The decisive goal fell in the 82nd minute. Anis Hadj Moussa beat his man with some terrific skill before his cross was knocked into the air by an AZ defender. Bart Nieuwkoop met it, heading it into the box to Ibrahim Osman, who half-volleyed it into the corner.
But AZ did not give up, and they ensured an exciting finish when Mexx Meerdink scored in the 89th minute after Ernest Poku took advantage of Feyenoord defender David Hancko making a similar mistake to Beelen’s mistake for the first goal.
But the Rotterdammers were able to hold on to their lead with relative ease and book a much-needed win. They are currently in fourth position. AZ are on a terrible run of form and find themselves in sixth.
