ROTTERDAM. AZ had a straightforward win over Excelsior. AZ scored with Jens Odgaard (13′), D. de Wit (35′), Jesper Karlsson (39′) and Vangelis Pavlidis (79′). On the other side, Reda Kharchouch (33′) scored for Excelsior. AZ capitalized on its better ball possession (56%).

The match was played at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion stadium in Rotterdam on Wednesday and it started at 6:45 pm local time. The referee was Bas Nijhuis with the assistance of Roy de Nas and Roan van Marrewijk. The 4th official was Clay Ruperti. The weather was rainy. The temperature was cold at 8.7 degrees Celsius or 47.57 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 88%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

AZ had a superior ball possession 56% while Excelsior was struggling with a 44% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

Excelsior was more aggressive with 73 dangerous attacks and 9 shots of which 7 were on target. Anyway, AZ found a way to find the solution to win this match.​

Excelsior shot 9 times, 7 on target, 2 off target. Talking about the opposition, AZ shot 17 times, 7 on target, 10 off target.

Cards

None of the teams received any yellow card.

Standings

After this encounter, Excelsior stays with points to occupy the 0th place in the standings. Talking about the opposition, AZ has points (0th).

Next matches

Excelsior – Formation

Excelsior adopted the 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

The manager Marinus Dijkhuizen decided to play with the following team: Norbert Alblas (6.1), Nathan Markelo (6.1), Redouan El Yaakoubi (6.3), Serano Seymor (6.2), Siebe Horemans (6.5), Julian Baas (6.3), Peer Koopmeiners (6.4), Couhaib Driouech (6.1), Kenzo Goudmijn (6.8), Lazaros Lamprou (6.1) and Reda Kharchouch (7.2).

The home team had on the bench: Pascal Kuiper, Stijn van Gassel, Maxime Awoudja (7.0), Bob Roodenburg, Adrian Fein, Joshua Eijgenraam (6.4), Marouan Azarkan (6.1), Nikolas Agrafiotis (6.8), Raphaël Eyongo and Mike van Duinen (6.5).

Substitutions

Excelsior made 5 changes: Serano Seymor for Maxime Awoudja (46′), Couhaib Driouech for Marouan Azarkan (74′), Peer Koopmeiners for Joshua Eijgenraam (74′), Lazaros Lamprou for Mike van Duinen (79′) and Reda Kharchouch for Nikolas Agrafiotis (81′).

Best player: Reda Kharchouch​

The most impressive player for Excelsior was Reda Kharchouch.

His rating is (7.2) with 1 goal, 23 passes (73% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 1 duel out of 4.

AZ – Formation

Also AZ adopted the 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

Pascal Jansen played with: Hobie Verhulst (7.5), Yukinari Sugawara (7.1), Pantelis Hatzidiakos (7.1), Sam Beukema (6.8), Miloš Kerkez (7.1), Jordy Clasie (7.5), Tijjani Reijnders (7.1), Jens Odgaard (7.4), Dani de Wit (7.7), Jesper Karlsson (7.4) and Vangelis Pavlidis (8.0).

They had on the bench: Rome Jayden Owusu-Oduro, Daniel Deen, Zinho Vanheusden, Riechedly Bazoer, Maxim Dekker, Mees de Wit, Håkon Evjen (6.8), Myron Van Brederode (7.0), Djordje Mihailović, Yusuf Barasi and Mayckel Lahdo.

AZ could not rely on the presence of D. Mihailovic (injured).

Substitutions

AZ made 5 changes: Jens Odgaard for H. Evjen (74′), Jesper Karlsson for Myron van Brederode (74′), Jordy Clasie for Riechedly Bazoer (86′), D. de Wit for Mees de Wit (86′) and M. Kerkez for D. Mihailovic (86′).

Best player: Vangelis Pavlidis​

As per our analysis, the most impressive player for AZ was Vangelis Pavlidis.

His rating is (8.0) with 1 goal, 26 passes (76% accurate) and 1 key pass. He was won 3 duels out of 8. He performed 1 cross.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the KNVB Beker.​

• SC Heerenveen – FC Volendam – 2-0
• FC Den Bosch – Ajax – 0-2
• De Treffers – SC Cambuur – 1-0
• VVV-Venlo – FC Emmen – 2-3
• Excelsior – AZ – 1-4
• Almere City – NEC – 0-4