ALKMAAR. AZ and Heracles Almelo draw 1-1. V. Pavlidis scored the first goal (13′) for AZ. A. Ouahim made it even (53′). AZ was surely better in terms of ball possession (61%)​

The match was played at the AFAS Stadion stadium in Alkmaar on Thursday and it started at 8:00 pm local time. In front of 16,276 spectators.​ The referee was Danny Desmond Makkelie who had the assistance of Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries. The 4th official was Erwin Blank. The weather was broken clouds. The temperature was pleasant at 18.27 degrees Celsius or 64.89 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 71%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

AZ had a superior ball possession 61% while Heracles Almelo was struggling with a 39% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

AZ was more pushing with 83 dangerous attacks and 21 shots of which 7 were on target. Nonetheless, that was not enough AZ to win the match​.

AZ shot 21 times, 7 on target, 7 off target. Talking about the opposition, Heracles Almelo shot 4 times, 2 on target, 2 off target.

Cards

AZ received 1 yellow card (Ibrahim Sadiq). On the other side, Heracles Almelo received 2 yellow cards (Brian De Keersmaecker and Navajo Bakboord).

Standings

After this match, AZ has 16 points to occupy the 2nd place in the table. Regarding the opposition, Heracles Almelo has 8 points (9th).

Next matches

In the next match in the Eredivisie, AZ will host FC Utrecht on the 19th of May with a 19-12 head to head in favor of AZ (9 draws).

Heracles Almelo will host Fortuna Sittard on the 19th of May with a 5-2 head to head stats in favor of Heracles Almelo (1 draw).

AZ – Formation

AZ started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

The manager Pascal Jansen decided to play with the following team: Mathew Ryan (7.0), Yukinari Sugawara (7.8), Riechedly Bazoer (7.0), Alexandre Penetra (7.5), David Møller Wolfe (7.0), Jordy Clasie  (7.7), Sven Mijnans (7.7), Mayckel Lahdo (7.0), Dani de Wit (7.5), Myron van Brederode  (7.8) and Vangelis Pavlidis (7.7).

The home team had on the bench: Bruno Martins Indi  (6.8), Tiago Dantas , Jens Odgaard (6.8), Ibrahim Sadiq (6.8), Hobie Verhulst, Djordje Mihailovic, Ruben van Bommel (6.8), Rome Jayden Owusu-Oduro , Ernest Poku, Kenzo Goudmijn (6.4), Denso Kasius and Wouter Goes .

AZ could not rely on the presence of Ruben van Bommel (injured).

Substitutions

AZ made 5 changes: Riechedly Bazoer for Bruno Martins Indi  (47′), Mayckel Lahdo for Ibrahim Sadiq (46′), Myron van Brederode  for Ruben van Bommel (69′), Sven Mijnans for Kenzo Goudmijn (69′) and Dani de Wit for Jens Odgaard (80′).

Best player: Yukinari Sugawara​

Following our analysis, the most impressive player for AZ was Yukinari Sugawara.

His rating is (7.8) with 58 passes (88% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 2 duels out of 3. He performed 14 crosses.

Heracles Almelo – Formation

Heracles Almelo started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).

Joannes Gerardus Adrianus Lammers played with: Michael Brouwer (7.5), Navajo Bakboord (7.0), Stijn Bultman (7.0), Justin Hoogma (7.3), Jetro Willems (7.0), Brian De Keersmaecker (6.7), Marko Vejinović (7.7), Mario Engels (6.4), Anas Ouahim (7.0), Emil Hansson (6.6) and Mohamed Sankoh (6.3).

The following players were sitting on the bench: Bryan Limbombe (6.7), Thomas Bruns, Jannes Wieckhoff , Sven Sonnenberg, Sava-Arandjel Cestic (6.4), Ruben Roosken (6.7), Fabian de Keijzer, Abdenego Nankishi, Robin Jalving, Diego van Oorschot, Sem Scheperman (6.7) and Lasse Wehmeyer (6.4).

Substitutions

Heracles Almelo made 5 changes: Mario Engels for Bryan Limbombe (65′), Anas Ouahim for Sem Scheperman (76′), Jetro Willems for Ruben Roosken (76′), Mohamed Sankoh for Lasse Wehmeyer (85′) and Stijn Bultman for Sava-Arandjel Cestic (85′).

Best player: Marko Vejinović​

The most impressive player for Heracles Almelo was Marko Vejinović.

His rating is (7.7) with 62 passes (90% accurate) and 1 key pass. He was won 4 duels out of 9. He performed 1 cross.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Eredivisie.​

• AZ – Heracles Almelo – 1-1