NETHERLANDS--AZ Alkmaar were too strong for HNK Rijeka on Thursday evening and recorded a comfortable 4-1 victory.
AZ may be struggling in the league, but they got off to a great start in the Europa League group with a 1-0 win over Napoli last week. Against HNK Rijeka, AZ dominated from the start and they took the lead in the sixth minute. Dani de Wit was brought down in the box and Teun Koopmeiners netted the resulting penalty.
Marco Bizot prevented the equaliser shortly afterwards, and there was fury from the AZ bench when Calvin Stengs was on the end of a late challenge that luckily did not result in a serious injury.
It was 2-0 for AZ in the 20th minute when Fredrik Midtsjo played Albert Gudmundsson through with an excellent ball and the attacker made no mistake with the finish.
Midtsjo got his second assist in the 51st minute, this time setting up Jesper Karlsson to fire AZ 3-0 in front. Nine minutes later, Koopmeiners set up Gudmundsson to net his second and AZ’s fourth of the night.
Kulenovic pulled one back for HNK Rijeka but it did not prove to be anything other than a consolation. AZ also handed debuts to youngsters Maxim Gullit, son of Ruud, and 17-year-old striker Yusuf Barasi before the end.
AZ move onto six points, while in the group’s other game, Napoli defeated Real Sociedad 1-0.
PSV
Donyell Malen hit a last-second winner as PSV Eindhoven came from behind to defeat Omonia Nicosia 2-1 in Cyprus. After a turbulent week, PSV headed to Cyprus without a number of players due to coronavirus. Eran Zahavi was also missing after being denied entry into Cyprus, although Jordan Teze was allowed to play.
Nicosia looked threatening at the start but it was PSV who got the first chance as Noni Madueke burst into the box before seeing his effort blocked.
Then in the 29th minute, PSV fell behind in bizarre fashion. After a foul on the halfway line, Jordi Gómez spotted Yvon Mvogo off his line and fired a long range free-kick into the net. However, replays showed that the ball was moving and should not have been allowed.
PSV equalised before the break after Madueke crossed for Malen to find the net with the outside of his foot.
In the second half, PSV were dominant but they missed several chances through Madueke, Mohamed Ihattaren and Malen. It appeared that PSV was going to have to settle for a draw, but in the final seconds, Ryan Thomas played in Malen to score the winning goal. PSV are now on three points and sit behind Granada, who drew 0-0 with PAOK Saloniki.
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam were on the end of a 4-1 hammering at home to Wolfsberger AC on Thursday with the Austrian side handed three dubious penalties.
Feyenoord went into the game without Marcos Senesi after he was sent off in the 0-0 draw with Dinamo Zagreb last week. Eric Botteghin came into the 11 while Lutsharel Geertruida was selected in midfield.
The hosts were confident of a victory but after 14 minutes they found themselves 2-0 down due to two dubious penalties. Referee Mykola Balakin made himself a villain in Rotterdam by firstly believing Christopher Wernitznig was brought down by Botteghin in the fourth minute. He then pointed to the spot again when Wernitznig again went down under alleged contact by Bart Nieuwkoop. Both spot kicks were scored by Michael Liendl.
Feyenoord failed to create anything before the break and manager Dick Advocaat made a change with Luciano Narsingh replacing Nieuwkoop.
The hosts looked much better and Steven Berghuis pulled one back early on. They then poured forward looking for the equaliser and missed some huge chances. Bryan Linssen wasted two massive opportunities then Ridgeciano Haps headed wide. It seemed an equaliser was coming but then on the hour mark, Wolfsberger broke and Liendl completed his hat-trick on the rebound.
Feyenoord were then denied a penalty when Orkun Kökçü was brought down in the box. What made matters worse is that Wolfsberger went down the other end and Bijlow was punished for barging into Dejan Joveljic. He punched the ball but a penalty was given, which Liendl scored. Feyenoord had no way back from that point and suffered their first defeat of the season.
