Two penalties in the opening ten minutes saw Excelsior come away from AZ Alkmaar with a 2-0 victory.
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AZ went into the game as heavy favourites and a win would have seen them move level on points with league leaders PSV Eindhoven.
However, with the clock on 26 seconds, Excelsior were awarded a soft penalty for a foul by Jonas Svensson. Luigi Bruins slotted the spot kick past Marco Bizot to make it 1-0. Eight minutes later, Ron Vlaar fouled Kevin Vermeulen and conceded another spot kick, which Bruins again netted.
AZ tried to recover from the early setbacks but they struggled to create chances against a resolute Excelsior defence. Their best opportunity fell to Eredivisie top scorer Wout Weghorst early in the second half but from a few yards out he scooped the ball onto the underside of the bar and away to safety.
Excelsior created chances themselves for a third but in the end they settled for a 2-0 win which lifts them to 12th, while AZ slide to 5th.
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