AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva result, stats and report

AZ Alkmaar 2, Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1. Write it down, move on. But do not let the scoreline fool you into thinking this was comfortable. It was not. It was scrappy, it was bad-tempered at times, and AZ left themselves open when they should have put the thing to bed far earlier. That said, they got the three points, and in European competition, that is all that matters.

A Match That Needed a Referee More Than a Tactics Board

Eight yellow cards across the ninety minutes. Four apiece. That tells you everything about the atmosphere inside the AFAS Stadion. Pedro Amador was booked for a foul in the 39th minute, and by the time Seiya Maikuma was carded for an argument right on the stroke of half-time, the tone was set. This was a contest built on desire and physicality, not exactly a passing exhibition. There is nothing wrong with that. You compete or you go home.

AZ dominated possession, controlling 59 percent of the ball and completing 499 successful passes to Be'er Sheva's 315. They registered 15 shots in total compared to the visitors' six. On pure volume, they were the better side. The thing is, domination on paper and domination on the pitch are two different conversations. Be'er Sheva made five saves in this match. Their goalkeeper was kept busy. AZ created five big chances and missed three of them. Three. That is not a tactical problem. That is an attitude problem in front of goal.

Koopmeiners Opens the Account

The opener arrived four minutes into the second half. Peer Koopmeiners found the net with a right-foot shot in the 49th minute, assisted by Valdemar Byskov Andreasen. It was the kind of goal AZ needed. Clinical. Direct. No fuss. That is how you start a second half in Europe.

Within six minutes, Hapoel Be'er Sheva had pulled themselves level. Amankwah Forson converted with a left-foot shot in the 55th minute, assisted by Zahi Ahmed. AZ had been warned. You let teams breathe at this level and they bite back. Be'er Sheva had already drawn their previous Europa League outing, a 0-0 against Dinamo Zagreb, which showed they were organised and hard to break down. Letting them back into this game so quickly was unacceptable.

The Bench Reacts, VAR Intervenes

AZ's manager moved quickly. Denso Kasius replaced the booked Maikuma in the 61st minute, and Calvin Stengs came on for Ayoub Oufkir, who had also collected a yellow card. Both changes injected fresh legs and fresh intent at the right moment. Credit where it is due, the bench decision was the correct one.

VAR came into the picture in the 75th minute, and a penalty was awarded to AZ in the 77th minute. Mexx Meerdink, who had only just entered the pitch as a substitute at the 76th minute mark, stepped up and converted. Scoring a penalty seconds after coming off the bench requires nerve. He showed it. That is the standard expected of a professional footballer. You come on, you contribute, you deliver. End of.

Stengs, who had barely been on the pitch twenty minutes, was then booked in the 78th minute for a foul. That kind of indiscipline after helping turn a match around is the sort of thing that grinds you down as a manager. You solve one problem and another appears. Denso Kasius then picked up a yellow card of his own in the 83rd minute. Four AZ yellows, four Be'er Sheva yellows. The referee had a full evening's work.

Be'er Sheva's Problems Are Plain to See

Listen, Hapoel Be'er Sheva came here with a point from their first Europa League match and left with nothing. Their attacking output was minimal. Six total shots, five saves made by AZ's goalkeeper. Their dribble success rate was just 21 percent. They created one big chance and took it. That is scrapping for survival, not competing for a result.

The sending-off of Eliel Peretz for an argument in the 52nd minute, at the exact moment AZ's Ayoub Oufkir was also carded in the same incident, summed up where Be'er Sheva's heads were at. Arguing with officials in a match you are already losing is a waste of energy. It is basics. Keep your discipline, stay on the pitch, give yourself a chance. They made substitutions late, brought on Adrián Ugarriza and João Victor in the 78th minute, and Ugarriza himself was booked in stoppage time for a foul. That is the kind of evening that tells you a squad needs to look hard at its own standards.

AZ's Form and the Bigger Picture

AZ came into this fixture having lost their only previous Europa League match in the data available, a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland in September. They needed a response. They got one. Winning a home European match 2-1 despite conceding is a result. It is not a performance to celebrate wildly, but it is three points banked.

The thing is, AZ had genuine attacking threat throughout. They won five corners to Be'er Sheva's one. They created five big chances. Fifteen shots in total. Their successful dribble rate of 63 percent was significantly higher than their opponents. They won more duels, 63 to 47. On almost every statistical measure, they were the superior side. The job now is to turn superiority into something more convincing on the scoresheet.

The Verdict

AZ Alkmaar did what was required. They won a home Europa League fixture against a side that made life difficult and took their one big chance ruthlessly when it arrived. The penalty conversion from Mexx Meerdink, the discipline shown by the replacements who changed the game, and ultimately the three points are what matter here.

The concerns are the missed chances, the yellow cards piling up, and the defensive vulnerability that allowed Be'er Sheva to equalise so quickly after falling behind. Those are not small issues. Those are standards questions. AZ have the attacking quality to go further in this competition. Whether they have the defensive accountability to match it is a conversation they need to have internally. Results like this buy you time. Nothing more.