http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Antonio-Di-Natale-c6306’s brace was not enough for the Serie A outfit, as 10-man Dutch side progressed through to the next phase of the competition with a 3-2 aggregate win.
In the return leg of UEFA Europa League round-of-16, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AZ-c38571 Alkmaar at Stadio Friuli on Thursday, March 15.
However, the win was not enough for the Italian outfit to make progression, as Gertjan Verbeek’s men secure progression to quarter-finals with a 3-2 aggregate win.
After AZ recorded an impressive 2-0 win over Udinese Calcio in the first-leg of Europe’s secondary competition on March 8, the Serie A outfit needed an impressive all round performance throughout the 90 minutes in the return leg.
The Bianconeri could not have asked for a better start at home. In the second minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Antonio-Floro-Flores-c6312 received a good ball upfront from the half-line, but the striker was brought down in the box by Nick Viergever.
The AZ defender received his marching orders, as he was shown a straight red card for the foul and Antonio di Natale slotted home the resulting spot-kick to make it 1-0 in the third minute.
Thirteen minutes later, Di Natale scored another to double his side’s advantage. A quick passing move around the AZ box ended up with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Giovanni-Pasquale-c14997, who played the ball to the 34-year-old striker, and the skipper made no mistake in volleying the ball
into the back of the net.
The home side were looking in full control of the match after going up 2-0 inside 15 minutes. However, AZ responded to the mounting pressure impressively and pulled a goal back in the 31st minute.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Erik-Falkenburg-c12753. The 23-year-old midfielder made no mistake in finding the top left corner of the net.
The Bianconeri tried their best to recover and mounted immense pressure on the visiting side’s defence. However, Floro Flores and Di Natale failed to hit the back of the net before the half-time break.
In the second-half, the home side continued to take advantage of their numerical superiority. However, they failed to create any goalscoring opportunity of note.
In the 63rd minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rasmus-Elm-c30628, however, failed to control the resulting spot-kick and his effort sailed over the bar, much to the dismay of Gertjan Verbeek.
The Udinese goalkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jozy-Altidore-c19634 and Holman from finding the back of the net to keep the hosts’ European hopes alive.
However, the Bianconeri failed to score in the remaining action of the match. Despite winning the tie 2-1 at the end, they bid farewell to Europa League with AZ making progression with a 3-2 aggregate win.
Tags: