AZ managed to recapture second place in the Eredivisie from PSV on Saturday evening. There seemed to be no problem for the team of coach Pascal Jansen, until Ramon Leeuwin was sent off the field five minutes after the break by referee Edwin van de Graaf. Leeuwin had come in as a substitute after Timo Letschert had to give up the fight after fifteen minutes of play after an apparently serious injury. The defender went through his ankle and was carried off the field by stretcher. The mean situation did not bother the Alkmaarders: 1-0.
AZ is working on a very strong home series and managed to win the last five home matches in the Eredivisie with at least two goals difference. Jansen did not have Teun Koopmeiners at his disposal against Fortuna. Just like last week, the captain was missing due to illness and, just like Dani de Wit, had to miss the game. Myron Boadu also seemed to miss the game after not training with the group all week, but he recovered in time and started on the bench. After a flashy start by AZ, the game was startled by the injury of Letschert, who came down incorrectly after an air duel with Lisandro Semedo and twisted his ankle.
His replacement Leeuwin saw how fellow defender Bruno Martins Indi then had a nice deep pass on Jesper Karlsson after half an hour of play. The winger flipped the ball over the outgoing Yanick van Osch, after which the Fortuna goalkeeper committed a foul. Albert Gudmundsson took his place behind the ball in the absence of Koopmeiners and sent Van Osch into the wrong corner from eleven meters: 1-0. It was also the first and only moment of excitement in the first half. Fortuna limited itself to defending in the first act and succeeded very nicely, while AZ failed to get through it playing football.
The team of trainer Sjors Ultee was quickly helped in the second half by Leeuwin, who committed an error after five minutes by pulling the broken Sebastian Polter to the ground. The Fortuna striker was sent into the depth by Tesfaldet Tekie and seemed to be able to reach the goal alone, but was hindered by the AZ substitute in his journey to Marco Bizot. Fortuna then exerted more pressure on AZ’s goal, but barely managed to achieve great opportunities. A shot by Mats Seuntjens could be caught by Bizot and a free kick by Zian Flemming also ended with AZ’s goalie.
On the other side, AZ was given the opportunity to decide the game early, when Jelle Duin went to Van Osch’s goal alone. However, the attacker’s attempt could be stopped by the Fortuna goalkeeper, after which the rebound could not be promoted to a goal by Gudmundsson. His bet was narrowly blocked by Roel Janssen. The victory was no longer in danger, so that AZ occupied second place for at least a day, as PSV took action against Willem II on Sunday afternoon.
| No. | Team | M. | W. | G. | V. | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 31 | 25 | 4 | 2 | 72 | 79 |
| 2 | AZ | 32 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 29 | 67 |
| 3 | PSV | 31 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 35 | 65 |
| 4 | Vitesse | 32 | 18 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 60 |
| 5 | Feyenoord | 31 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 28 | 55 |
| 6 | FC Utrecht | 32 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 51 |
| 7 | Fc Groningen | 31 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 46 |
| 8 | Sparta Rotterdam | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 43 |
| 9 | Heracles Almelo | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | -6 | 43 |
| 10 | Fortuna Sittard | 32 | 12 | 4 | 16 | -7 | 40 |
| 11 | sc Heerenveen | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | -3 | 39 |
| 12 | FC Twente | 32 | 9 | 11 | 12 | -2 | 38 |
| 13 | PEC Zwolle | 31 | 8 | 11 | 12 | -7 | 35 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 31 | 6 | 8 | 17 | -20 | 26 |
| 15 | Willem II | 31 | 6 | 7 | 18 | -30 | 25 |
| 16 | FC Emmen | 31 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -30 | 24 |
| 17 | VVV Venlo | 31 | 6 | 4 | 21 | -42 | 22 |
| 18 | Ado den Haag | 31 | 3 | 10 | 18 | -44 | 19 |