Heavily rotated AZ side held by Shakhtar Donetsk as UEFA Conference League run ends
AZ Alkmaar were knocked out of the UEFA Conference League on Thursday at the hands of Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. AZ, who were already 3-0 down after the first leg, drew 2-2 against Shakhtar in the AFAS Stadium.
To the surprise of many, AZ manager Lee-Roy Echtold seemed to throw the game with his lineup. Echtold elected to put almost all his important players on the bench, with Wouter Goes, Sven Mijnan, Kees Smit, and Troy Parrott all starting on the bench. AZ plays the KNVB Cup final on Sunday against NEC.
This led to a reasonably drab first half with Shakhtar feeling like the three-goal cushion is enough while AZ’s B side struggled to create any chances of note.
The visitors came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 21st minute. A long ball found Isaque, the attacking midfielder, who dribbled past Kasper Boogard with ease, but was unable to follow up his tremendous strike last week with another goal as his effort with his weaker left foot went into the side-netting.
AZ’s only opportunity came around 20 minutes later. A deep cross from left center back Billy van Duijl was headed across by Ibrahim Sadiq, but it bounced just outside of the post before going out for a goal kick.
Shakhtar seemed to put the tie to bed in the 58th minute. Alisson Santana got his third goal of the tie when his Brazilian compatriot Kaua Elias played him in. The angle was not the easiest for Santana, but his shot was perfect, finding the far corner.
Japanese defender Rion Ichihara had a huge chance to get his first goal for the club in the 62nd minute when a corner from substitute Isak Jensen found the center back for a free header, but he failed to make contact with the ball.
The visitors should have made it 2-0 two minutes later. Marlon Gomes created the beating Ichihara before playing a pass to Newerton. He cut inside past a defender before slicing the effort far wide of the goal.
AZ got a goal back in the 73rd minute. Jensen got it with a free kick that went in via the inside of the post. This was then followed by AZ getting their second seven minutes later. A cross from Ayoub Oufkir was nodded down by Bendeguz Kovacs, setting up a volley for Matej Sin that went into the far corner.
There was some hope for a comeback in the AFAS Stadium, but that was quickly dampened when Shakhtar scored again in the 84th minute. Luca Ferreira won the ball off of Jensen and played a perfectly weighted pass to Luca Meirelles. His finish was a simple one, sending it through the legs of AZ keeper Jeroen Zoet.
Shakhtar will likely go on to face English side Crystal Palace in the semi-finals. Palace have a 3-0 lead going into the second leg with Fiorentina. AZ will now focus on the cup final in Rotterdam on Sunday.
