AZ Alkmaar failed to gain on second-placed Ajax after being held to a surprising 2-2 draw at home to Roda JC.
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Patrick Banggaard was handed his debut by Roda JC but the defender got off to a nightmare start as he deflected Thomas Ouwejan’s cross into his own net to give AZ the lead after a quarter of an hour.
AZ then had opportunities to make it 2-0 but they weren’t taken and on 22 minutes Dani Schahin’s flick-on set Jorn Vancamp through on goal and the forward calmly fired past Marco Bizot to make it 1-1.
Fredrik Midtsjø restored AZ’s lead before the break with an excellent strike from distance which left Hidde Jurjus with no chance in the Roda JC goal.
AZ failed to kill off Roda JC early in the second half despite a big chance for Alireza Jahanbakhsh and on 71 minutes they were pegged back again. Tsiy Ndenge found the net for the visitors.
The final twenty minutes saw AZ push for a winner but Roda JC held on to claim a point. AZ remain fourth and two points off Ajax, while Roda JC stay 17th but are now level on points with Twente and NAC.
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