Maarten Martens struck twice in the second-half as Gertjan Verbeek’s men cruised to a comfortable victory over the Kralingers.
On match-day 21, AZ Alkmaar cruised to an easy 2-0 victory against SBV Excelsior at AFAS Stadion. The hosts dominated throughout the 90 minutes and grabbed all three points to remain in the race for the Eredivisie title.
The Alkmaar outfit dominated proceedings right from the kick-off in front of their home crowd. But it was the visiting side that came close to taking the lead. In the seventh minute, Darren Maatsen outran Simon Poulsen before firing his effort, but the AZ
goalkeeper, Esteban Alvarado, made a brilliant save to deny Maatsen.
AZ controlled the game thereafter. Rasmus Elm’s curling corner almost crept in before the Kralingers goalkeeper, Wesley de Ruiter, got a hand to it. Moments later, Roy Beerens saw his long-range effort strike the post. Brett Holman’s shot also bounced off
the woodwork.
The home side were unlucky to go in 0-0 at the half-time interval despite having much of the ball possession and creating plenty of opportunities.
However, the consistent pressure eventually paid them off in the second-half when Maarten Martens hit the back of the net in the 58th minute.
Holman and Beerens’ impressive one-two opened up the visitors’ defence before the latter found the Belgian ace inside the box, and he had no difficulties in sending the ball into the back of the net.
Two minutes later, Charlison Benschop’s neat pass found Martens unmarked on the far post, and he yet again tapped in the ball with ease.
The visiting side tried to crawl their way back into the game, but failed to create anything of note. In the 81st minute, Adam Maher could have made the score-line 3-0, but his effort from 16 yards was punched away by the Kralingers goalkeeper,
De Ruiter. When the referee blew the final whistle, the score-line read 2-0 in favour of the Alkmaar outfit.
All three points ensured AZ the top spot in the league table for the next 24 hours before PSV Eindhoven reclaimed it following their 4-1 win over De Graafschap on Sunday, February 12.
The Alkmaar outfit are currently placed second in the Eredivisie table, level on points with the leaders Eindhoven giants, who have a superior goal difference. On the other hand, the outfit from Excelsior remain unmoved at the 17th spot, eight
points adrift of the safety zone.
SBV Excelsior will battle against ADO Den Haag on February 18 while AZ will lock horns against FC Utrecht on February 19 in their next league encounter.