AZ Alkmaar played 70 minutes with nine men but held Roda JC to a 2-2 draw in the AFAS Stadion on Saturday night.

  • By Michael Bell
  • Follow Michael on Twitter

johannsson adThe home side were dominant in the early stages but were incredibly reduced to nine men before the 19th minute, with both Nick Viergever, and Nemanja Gudelj being shown straight reds within seven minutes of each other.

Viergever went for pulling back Guus Hupperts when the winger was closing in on goal, whilst Gudelj was given his marching orders for a late challenge.

Even with a two man handicap, AZ took the lead, with right back Mattias Johansson getting forward to finish nicely into the corner on 25 minutes.

However Roda JC leveled the scores four minutes later through Wiljan Pluim, who slotted past Esteban with a low shot from just outside the area.

The nine men regained the lead before the break as striker Aron Johannsson stepped inside his marker on the right hand side of the box before firing powerfully Filip Kurto.

In the second half, AZ had to withstand heavy pressure from the offset, with Kriztian Nemeth guilty of missing several good chances. The striker’s best opportunity saw him scuff wide from around the penalty spot.

AZ defended brilliantly and looked like holding on for the win, but in the 90th minute, Frank Demouge laid the ball off to Vasil Shkurtaj, and the substitute fired low past Alvarado.

Roda where then reduced to ten men, with Bart Biemans receiving his second yellow card, and leaving the match to finish 2-2 between nine man AZ and ten man Roda JC.

The draw means AZ remain in 2nd place, while Roda remain 11th, and their coach will be frustrated that his side failed to shut out and beat a side with nine men.




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