Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 20:38• Tom Rofekamp • Last update: 21:30

AZ failed to secure the knockout phase of the Conference League on Thursday. With a win against Apollon Limassol in Cyprus, Pascal Jansen’s team would in any case finish as the leader in Group E, but it was 1-0 in the GSP stadium. In theory, number two Dnipro-1 – which is now on four points – could now even finish above AZ. The Ukrainians will play against FC Vaduz later in the evening.

Jansen’s most talked-about choice before the game was to sacrifice Jens Odgaard in favor of Riechedly Bazoer. Dani de Wit therefore moved on to the striker position. From his new role, De Wit was close to the opening goal early on. Milos Kerkez laid the ball ready for the head of the occasional striker from the left, who saw his attempt bounce off the bar. Moments later, De Wit was equally unlucky. Jesper Karlsson – who was also allowed to start in the starting line-up again – sent a razor-sharp cross towards the five-meter area, but goalkeeper Aleksandar Jovanovic was just a little earlier at the ball than De Wit.

With his characteristic work ethic, De Wit was also the man who caused the danger at AZ. After half an hour of play, the Cypriot defense made a mistake on his pressure, after which he conquered and tried to deliver the ball to Bazoer. Although the ball almost went into the net, Jovanovic kept his goal clean. However, it was also De Wit who was responsible for Apollon’s 1-0 moments later. De Wit lost sight of direct opponent Valentin Roberge on a corner, and the defender was able to head hard behind Hobie Verhulst.

It was a big downer for Jansen’s team, who would no longer be able to catch up with a victory as the leader of Group E. At halftime, the coach decided to intervene by bringing Jens Odgaard and Mayckel Laydo for Pantelis Hadziakos and Jordy class. However, the two changes did not give the sloppy AZ the necessary push, so that Jansen felt compelled to use up all his substitution options after an hour. The new guard was also unable to help AZ to a point. (Who else but) De Wit still had the equalizer on his shoe in the final phase, but saw his bet end up in the hands of Jovanovic.