The Alkmaar outfit boss expressed contentment with his side’s impressive win over the Italian outfit and insisted that his side’s chances of making progression to Europa League’s next phase are bright.
AZ Alkmaar head coach, Gertjan Verbeek, expressed contentment with his side’s 2-0 win over Udinese in the first-leg of UEFA Europa League last-16 tie at AFAS Stadion on Thursday, March 8.
The match commenced in a lively manner, but neither side failed to break the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes, though, the home side remained better of the two teams.
Rasmus Elm’s effort was parried away by the visiting side's goalkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Brett-Holman-c8047 in the 19th minute, as the hosts continued to dominate proceedings.
After the half-time break, the Alkmaar outfit continued to mount pressure and eventually took the lead in the 63rd minute. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Erik-Falkenburg-c12753 sealed the game seven minutes from
time when he tapped in yet another cross from Altidore to make the score-line 2-0.
Verbeek expressed satisfaction after the win and revealed that his side’s chances of progressing through to the next phase of the competition are very bright.
“I think we have a good chance of playing in the quarter finals. We have a slight advantage, but we are not there yet”, Verbeek was quoted as saying to AD.nl.
The Dutch mentor then went on to heap praise on his side’s performance, but he also admitted that his side did miss some goalscoring opportunities.
“We played well, and claimed a good result. I must give credit to all the players. However, I think we can do a lot better than tonight’s performance”, Verbeek added.
The vastly experienced tactician admitted that his troops failed to assert authority at the start of the match.
“We encountered difficulties in the beginning. But as the match progressed, we started to play better”, Verbeek concluded.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AZ-c38571 will lock horns against Udinese in the return leg of the tie at Stadio Friuli on Thursday, March 15.
Tags: