FC Twente secured three points in the Eredivisie at the expense of AZ on Thursday evening. In De Grolsch Veste, the team of trainer Ron Jans already enjoyed a 2-1 lead at halftime, which was further expanded in the second company: 3-1. Also remarkable was the substitution of Timo Letschert, who was taken aside by trainer Pascal Jansen after 23 minutes of playing after a defensive blunder. Twente occupies sixth place in the ranking with ten points, while the Alkmaarders are seventeenth with only one victory from five games.
The Tukkers shot from the starting blocks and took advantage of AZ’s weak defense after 33 seconds. Michel Vlap cut in from the left side of the field and put the ball back to Van Wolfswinkel. The striker was released completely and pushed the ball into the bottom right corner: 1-0. It was Twente’s fastest goal of the 21st century in a home match in the Eredivisie. AZ showed themselves for the first time in the eleventh minute of play, when Vangelis Pavlidis lashed out but he saw goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall save. Six minutes later, Twente doubled the lead after a mistake by Letschert.
“Siri: Get off to a good start” ?? Now live on ESPN #?? #TWEAZ pic.twitter.com/OSuIoWZ48C
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) September 23, 2021
After a throw-in from Giovanni Troupée on the right side of the field, Ramiz Zerrouki shot the ball into the depths. There, Daan Rots entered the sprint duel with Letschert, who seemed to have the ball under control. However, the center defender lost the ball in a clumsy way, giving Rots free passage to the enemy goal and finishing face to face with goalkeeper Peter Vindahl: 2-0. The goal led to a lot of anger at Jansen, who decided to immediately replace Letschert with Pantelis Hatzidiakos. On the stroke of the halftime signal, Jesper Karlsson brought the tension back into the game.
Fredrik Midtsjö delivered a long ball to the left winger’s feet. Karlsson cut in, misdirected Rots and shoved the ball from outside the box into the bottom left corner: 2-1. Six minutes after the break Manfred Ugalde broke through the Alkmaar defense, forcing Dani de Wit to pull the emergency brake. Referee Danny Makkelie, however, found a yellow card sufficient for holding. From the free kick from the edge of the box that followed, Vlap fired hard at Vindahl’s fists.
Halfway through the second act, Pavlidis thought he could score the equalizer. However, in the build-up to the goal, Zakaria Aboukhlal was offside, as a result of which the goal was disallowed. There was still scoring on the other side. After an excellent dribble, Virgil Misidjan delivered the ball to Dimitrios Limnios, who scored beautifully: 3-1.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 16 |
| 2 | PSV | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 15 |
| 3 | William II | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| 4 | Feyenoord | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 12 |
| 5 | FC Utrecht | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 11 |
| 6 | FC Twente | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 7 | sc Heerenveen | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 10 |
| 8 | SC Cambuur | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -7 | 9 |
| 9 | Vitesse | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -8 | 9 |
| 10 | NEC | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -5 | 8 |
| 11 | Go Ahead Eagles | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 6 |
| 12 | Sparta Rotterdam | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -4 | 6 |
| 13 | RKC Waalwijk | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -2 | 5 |
| 14 | Fc Groningen | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -4 | 5 |
| 15 | Heracles Almelo | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 4 |
| 16 | Fortuna Sittard | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -7 | 4 |
| 17 | AZ | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 3 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -7 | 1 |