AZ Alkmaar too good for NEC in KNVB Cup final

AZ Alkmaar too good for NEC in KNVB Cup final

AZ Alkmaar were imperious in the cup final this weekend as they hammered NEC Nijmegen 5-1. In a game many expected to be a closely fought contest between AZ Alkmaar and this years Eredivisie surprise package NEC, it was the side returning to the cup final for the second seasons in a row who proved to have too much for their opponents. However, the score line did not tell the full story of a game that was, for over an hour at least, pretty close.

However, the opening goal of the game only came after the half-hour mark. Some great work out wide from Ro-Zangelo Daal eventually led to Mees de Wit opening the scoring. It remained 1-0 until after the hour mark, when Kees Smit was sent free on the counter, finding the marauding Sven Mijnans to make it 2-0. In pushing for a way back into the game, NEC left themselves exposed on the counter, with Peer Koopmeiners breaking free to make it 3-0 with a wonderful finish. With just 15 or so minutes left in the game, it was clear that the cup was heading to Alkmaar.

Yet, just a few minutes later, NEC did get back into the game through substitute Koki Ogawa. However, AZ were clinical on the counter. After Mijans second was chalked off for offside, Smit chipped Jasper Cillessen in stoppage time to make it 4-1 before got himself on the scoresheet with a deflected strike. By then, NEC had thrown caution to the wind and left themselves completly exposed at the back.