AZ Alkmaar remain unbeaten in their Europa League group as they drew 1-1 with Shakhter Karagandy in Kazakhstan.
- By Michael Bell
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The home side were on top right from the beginning, and goalkeeper Esteban had to make a fine stop from Ghazaryan after only a minute.
Khiznichenko then missed another big opportunity for Karagandy a minute later, when he shot into Esteban’s arms, after a failed offside trap by AZ.
The pressure continued until the side from Kazakhstan finally took the lead on 11 minutes, when a long throw was slid in by Finonchenko.
AZ slowly came into the game, and found their equaliser on 26 minutes, with Mattias Johansson’s cross being finished by Johann Gudmundsson.
With twenty minutes to go, Johansson nearly gave AZ the lead when his shot was just saved by the Shakhter keeper on the goal line.
Maarten Martens, and Nemanja Gudelj fired efforts over from range for the visitors, while Shakhter rarely threatened throughout the second half, and the game limped to a 1-1 draw.
Dick Advocaat will be happy to leave Kazakhstan with a point, and they remain on course for qualification to the next round, if they can win their upcoming home game.