AZ Alkmaar are now only three points behind Ajax at the top after they defeated PEC Zwolle 3-0.

Ajax’s shock defeat to Willem II on Friday opened the door for AZ to close the gap before the top two meet next weekend.

Arnie Slot’s side were dominant from the start at PEC Zwolle with Dani de Wit heading wide, while Myron Boadu had an effort cleared from the line. Eventually, in the 15th minute, Boadu did open the scoring with a great strike into the corner.

PEC Zwolle had chances to equalise but Lennart Thy and Vito van Crooy fired over the bar. At the other end, Calvin Stengs saw a shot blocked.

In the 42nd minute, it was 2-0 for AZ with Oussama Idrissi finding the bottom corner after being picked out by Jonas Svensson.

AZ then added a third in the 65th minute when Boadu and Stengs combined before the former put the ball on a plate for Idrissi to find the net.

The victory closes the gap at the top of the table ahead of AZ v Ajax next Sunday. Manchester United lie in wait first on Thursday evening. PEC Zwolle drop into the bottom three in 16th.




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