Feyenoord lose further ground on AZ

Ahead of the fixture Dick Advocaat didn’t want to talk in terms of a make-or-break game in the battle for Europe. But what with the opportunity to make up the three-point gap between the clubs and the news that Ajax and second placed PSV had played out a stalemate earlier in the day, the coach and his players arrived in Alkmaar fully aware of the importance of the game.

Dream start
Feyenoord did themselves a big favour by hitting the ground running. The match was eight minutes old when Marcos Senesi redirected a Steven Berghuis cross between the posts with his head.

A goal up, the visitors looked comfortable. But AZ took full advantage of a sloppy Feyenoord pass in their own half, pouncing to launch a swift counterattack. The ball ended up at the feet of Myron Boadu, who curled an effort out of Justin Bijlow’s reach to equalise.

Not long after that, Luis Sinisterra capitalised on a mix-up in the AZ defence, tapping into an empty net to restore his side’s lead. But the hosts were not willing to cave, and Boadu grabbed a second leveller before the break.

When the sides returned after half time Feyenoord looked much more vulnerable. The game took a negative turn when a low clearance by Bijlow was intercepted by the hosts and Boadu was put in for his hat-trick.

VVV Venlo next up
Teun Koopmeiners scored a fourth for the hosts before the end to cap their victory, leaving them in third place in the Eredivisie on 49 points after 24 matches. Feyenoord are in fifth, six points down. At least Dick Advocaat’s side now finally have a home match to look forward to after four road games. VVV-Venlo are the visitors on Saturday in a 16:30 kick-off at De Kuip.