PSV Eindhoven are another step closer to the Eredivisie title after they came from 2-0 down to defeat AZ Alkmaar in a fantastic game at the AFAS Stadion.
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The battle between third and first saw both coaches make changes to their line-ups, with Gaston Pereiro replacing the suspended Steven Bergwijn for PSV, while John van den Brom decided on a back-three for AZ and Ron Vlaar came into the starting eleven at the expense of Oussama Idrissi.
AZ started the game brightly and they almost took the lead through Teun Koopmeiners, who saw his strike cleared off the line by Daniel Schwaab. PSV woke up as the half wore on and Bart Ramselaar fired a good chance over before Luuk de Jong, who had a goal disallowed for offside, hit the post.
Early in the second half, De Jong had another goal ruled out and it seemed it wasn’t going to be the leaders day as AZ took the lead in the 53rd minute. Guus Til had an effort blocked by Santiago Arias but Wout Weghorst followed up to net. Eight minutes later it was 2-0 with Alireza Jahanbakhsh brilliantly picking out Weghorst to net his second of the game.
PSV looked shocked but in the 74th minute Pereiro gave them a lifeline as he brought down a Hirving Lozano free-kick before firing past Marco Bizot to make it 2-1. Two minutes later, PSV were level thanks to a massive blunder by Bizot, whose attempted clearance hit the legs of the onrushing Lozano and the ball flew into the empty net.
PSV had AZ against the ropes and in the 79th minute, Vlaar conceded a penalty for a foul on De Jong. Marco van Ginkel slotted in the spot-kick to seal a remarkable comeback.
Ricardo van Rhijn saw an equaliser ruled out for offside before AZ were reduced to ten men after Vlaar brought down Lozano which earned him his second yellow card.
PSV’s win moves them ten points clear of second-placed Ajax, who face Heracles on Sunday. The title will be there’s should they beat Ajax when they visit the Philips Stadion next Sunday. AZ remain third.
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