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Poor AZ beat De Graafschap
Saturday 24 January 2009
AZ didn't play all that great but
goals of Ari and Sébastien Pocognoli were enough
to beat lowly ranked De Graafschap.
But the simple victory could not
disguise that AZ are not the frivolous machine they
were before the winter break.
As was the case against Volendam
last week the team of Louis van Gaal had trouble creating
chances, but they were terribly effective on the chances
they did get.
The home team scored from the first
chance they got after 11 minutes.
El Hamdaoui shrugged off Purrel
Fränkel down the right and played in an inch perfect
cross on the head of Ari: 1-0.
The Brazilian scored his ninth
in ten games and was also involved in AZ's second goal,
when Pocognoli scored after a smooth combination with
Ari.
The half-time score should however
have been 2-1 as Sahar's goal was disallowed for offside
when clearly it wasn't.
That phase and a great chance for
De Jong shortly before Pocognoli's goal gave De Graafschap
the impression that AZ were not as unassailable as thought.
The visitors took the game to the
league leaders but were unable to create any real danger.
AZ leaned back comfortably and
dealt with everything De Graafschap through at them,
including two new strikers Steve de Ridder and Geert
den Ouden.
The best chance was even for the
home team when defender Gill Swerts hit the woodwork
with a distant shot.
AZ - De Graafschap 2-0
1-0 11' Ari
2-0 44' S. Pocognoli
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