AZ reached the third round of the TOTO KNVB Cup on Wednesday evening without any problems. The team of Pascal Jansen had nothing to fear from Heracles Almelo after a world goal by Bilal Basacikoglu, which was set aside: 4-1. Vangelis Pavlidis, Jesper Karlsson (twice) and Yusuf Barasi provided the Alkmaar goals.
Heracles coach Frank Wormuth decided remarkably enough to start with a B formation and to give nine basic players a rest. At AZ, which played 5-3-2, no big names were spared. Already after two minutes Pavlidis scored in his characteristic way. The Greek striker started to twist and turn in the penalty area, cut to his left leg and shot in dry: 1-0. In the next phase, Heracles broke out several times and Basacikoglu shot wildly over from a difficult angle.
?? @HeraclesAlmelo comes back into the game thanks to this hard bang from Bilal Basacikoglu! ?? ?? ESPN 2 #?? #azher pic.twitter.com/p3PrJNFX0J
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) Dec 15, 2021
AZ came close through Bruno Martins Indi, who got a free header wrong on the head. A smooth attack gave AZ a beautiful goal six minutes before half-time. After a number of combinations, Yukinari Sugawara led low, after which Jesper Karlsson extended the ball nicely: 2-0. Heracles kept himself alive thanks to Basacikoglu, who fired the ball into the intersection from enormous distance: 2-1. It must be said that AZ goalkeeper Peter Vindahl did not make a strong impression.
In the second half, the Alkmaarders seemed to believe it, while Heracles was unable to create anything himself. After a long time without highlights, AZ decided the game in the 76th minute. A shot by Zakaria Aboukhlal was turned by Koen Bucker, after which Karlsson managed to shoot the ball in two instances: 3-1. Substitute Barasi made it 4-1 less than four minutes after his entrance. The striker was released completely after a good pass from Owen Wijndal and Bucker cut out cool-blooded.