AZ played a draw against Randers FC in the Conference League on Thursday evening. On a visit to the Danish Randers FC, the Alkmaarders still enjoyed a lead at half-time, which, however, was given away in the second company: 2-2. Jordy Clasie and Vangelis Pavlidis took care of the Alkmaar goal production. The other game in Group D was won by FK Jablonec, which was 1-0 too strong for CFR Cluj at home.
Trainer Pascal Jansen left his starting eleven largely intact compared to the 3-0 defeat against PSV. The only change was made to the right winger position, where Zakaria Aboukhlal had to make way for Albert Gudmundsson. The attack line was completed by Pavlidis and Jesper Karlsson. AZ started the game with offensive intentions, in which the first big chance was noted in the twelfth minute. Goalkeeper Patrik Carlgren did not manage a shot from Karlsson perfectly, after which Aslak Witry should have scored from the rebound but just missed.
?? With this nice bang from Jordy Clasie, AZ took the lead against Randers FC, but the Danish team has already made the equalizer ?? ?? ESPN #?? #RANAZ pic.twitter.com/Hq3uDkcsk8
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) September 16, 2021
The choice for Gudmundsson paid off in the 24th minute of play, when he put the ball back on the edge of the box. Clasie didn’t hesitate for a moment, suddenly lashed out and hit hard in the bottom right corner: 0-1. Within three minutes, however, the score was already leveled. After a free kick by Vito Hammershöj Mistrati, the ball got stuck in the five-meter area. The ball shot up through the leg of Bruno Martins Indi and Simon Piesinger suddenly got plenty of room to nod within the 1-1.
In the 34th minute, the stronger AZ took the lead again. From the left, Owen Wijndal had a measured pass to Pavlidis. The striker initially hit Carlgren with a header, after which he scored from the rebound: 1-2. Ten minutes after the break, Pavlidis should have made his second of the evening. The Greek international received a tailor-made pass from Gudmundsson, but the striker failed to pass Carlgren at the height of the five-meter area. On the other side, it was in the 68th minute.
?? Vangelis Pavlidis taps the ball in the second instance and gives AZ the lead again! ?? ESPN #?? #RANAZ pic.twitter.com/r00ngaiyn7
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) September 16, 2021
Randers was rarely in the scene, but again managed to score from a standard situation. A rotating free kick from Mistrati’s left was cleared by Simon Graves with the head, leaving goalkeeper Peter Vindahl without a chance: 2-2. AZ seemed devastated by the goal and lost control of the game. Aboukhlal, who came in for Pavlidis, still had a good opportunity after a nice through pass by Tijjani Reijnders, but due to a weak assumption there was no attempt for a goal. Also in the absolute final phase, Aboukhlal failed to use his respective chance.