published: thursday 20 february 2014, 21.00cet fc slovan liberec 0-1 az alkmaar
az have the upper hand in the tie after nick viergever's opportunistic winner, one minute from time, earned the visitors a priceless away success.
nick viergever was in the right place at the right time to earn az alkmaar a 1-0 uefa europa league round of 32 first-leg win at fc slovan liberec.
the az captain pounced in the 89th minute to prod into an unguarded net after home keeper přemysl kovář had spilled nemanja gudelj's deep free-kick. ıt was a goal the dutch team's endeavour deserved; az exuded a self-assurance rooted in a six-match european unbeaten run, taking the game to their czech hosts and pinning them back for long periods.
twice in the early stages aron jóhannsson and lively forward johann gudmundsson linked up with smart passing triangles on the inside-left channel, but both times goal-bound shots from gudmundsson were repelled by home skipper radoslav kováč – the keystone in a deep-lying wall of defenders.
when slovan did dare to venture forward, they looked susceptible on the counter – roy beerens brought a low save from kovář on one such occasion, and another beerens break finished with gudelj flashing a volley just off target from the edge of the box.
jeffrey gouweleeuw and liberec's yevhen budnik traded stinging shots from distance without success in a stretched start to the second period. the contest gradually settled into a familiar pattern, though – yet despite gudelj pulling the strings admirably in a no10 role, a persistent az struggled to find a route to goal.
liberec almost took advantage in a fleeting spell of possession, but az custodian esteban was at his sharpest to palm yevhen budnik's low drive past the post. then came viergever's timely intervention to secure the spoils for the eredivisie club.
yardımcı hakemler: aurel onita (rou), octavian sovre (rou)
4. hakem: radu ghinguleac (rou)
çizgi hakemleri: ovidiu haţegan (rou), cristian balaj (rou)
liberec: přemysl kovář (gk), vladimír coufal, david pavelka, serhiy rybalka, martin frýdek, isaac sackey, radoslav kováč (c), jan rajnoch, josef šural, jiří fleišman, yevhen budnik (dk. 86 jiří pimpara)
yedekler: lukáš hroššo (gk), miloš karišik, marek jarolím, douglas djika, Ľuboš kolár, lukáš pokorný
teknik direktör: jaroslav šilhavý (cze)
az: esteban (gk), nick viergever (c), etienne reijnen, johann gudmundsson, nemanja gudelj, viktor elm, aron jóhannsson, roy beerens, jeffrey gouweleeuw, celso ortiz, jan wuytens
yedekler: yves de winter (gk), mattias johansson, donny gorter, simon poulsen, markus henriksen, steven berghuis, denni avdic
teknik direktör: dick advocaat (ned)
goller: (0-1) dk. 89 nick viergever (c)
sarı kartlar: dk. 88 serhiy rybalka, dk. 45+1 isaac sackey (liberec) dk. 57 etienne reijnen, dk. 90+1 jan wuytens (az)
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