AZ Alkmaar’s excellent form continued on Friday evening as they saw off FC Twente 2-0 in the AFAS Stadion to temporarily move into second place.
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AZ boss John van den Brom welcomed back Wout Weghorst from suspension, while Gertjan Verbeek looked to stop the hosts impressive attack by deploying five defenders.
Weghorst should have opened the scoring on eleven minutes but could only shoot straight at Jorn Brondeel after a quick AZ move. Alireza Jahanbakhsh then set up the striker for another chance just before the break, but Weghorst could only fire wide from a tight angle.
In the second half, FC Twente improved slightly but just after the hour mark, AZ were awarded a penalty when Fredrik Midtsjø went down in the box under a challenge from Michael Liendl. Jahanbakhsh calmly slotted in the penalty to break the deadlock.
Twente’s defence then fell apart as AZ poured forward and on 70 minutes Jahanbakhsh crossed for Joris van Overeem to sweep in a second. It could have been worse shortly afterwards, but the post prevented van Overeem, while the midfielder and Weghorst couldn’t convert a Guus Til cutback past Brondeel.
Tom Boere thought he had pulled one back late on for Twente late on but his goal from a corner was disallowed for a foul. The striker then hit the post just before the end as AZ saw out their fifth victory in a row.
AZ leapfrog Ajax into second, while Twente are 16th.
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