AZ Alkmaar beat PSV Eindhoven 4-0 to end their 17-year wait for a Dutch Super Cup triumph. Last season’s KNVB Cup winners AZ faced the Eredivisie champions at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven.
PSV are the favourites to win a fourth league title in a row, but they had a less-than-ideal start to their competitive season. In the ninth minute of the game, midfielder Joey Veerman was sent off for the home side. The Dutchman caught Mexx Meerdink in the face with a high boot as he went for a high ball.
From there on, AZ took control of the game, piling on pressure and dominating possession. It didn’t take long for them to find the breakthrough. In the 25th minute, a cross from the left side was deflected off PSV defender Ryan Flamingo, and it fell into Meerdink’s path, who headed the ball home.
Despite being down to 10 men, Peter Bosz’s side didn’t sit back. They went close to levelling the game, but Guus Til saw his close-range effort brilliantly saved by Belgian goalkeeper Jari De Busser. However, in the second-half AZ wasted little time in putting the game to bed.
Brazilian winger Wesley Patati was played in by Peer Koopmeiners on the right inside the box, and he lobbed in a sublime finish in the 51st minute to double his side’s advantage. The Cheese Heads were out of sight seven minutes later. A bustling attack saw Ro-Zangelo Daal provide a pass to Elijah Dijkstra, and he held his run to finish past Matej Kovar.
PSV’s miserable afternoon was compounded when Yarek Gasiorowski struck out a leg to trip Calvin Stengs in the box. Ro-Zangelo Daal sent Kovar the wrong way from the spot with a bottom left corner strike to make it 4-0 for Lee-Roy Echteld’s side as they comfortably won the Johan Cruyff Shield.
AZ Alkmaar’s last Johan Cruyff Shield win was in 2009
You would have to go all the way back to 2009 for AZ Alkmaar’s last Johan Cruyff Shield win. That year, AZ entered the competition as Eredivisie winners and faced KNVB Cup winners SC Heerenveen.
The game at the Amsterdam Arena saw a comfortable outing for AZ, who were managed by Ronald Koeman. They ran out 5-1 winners to win the competition for the first time in their history. 17 years later, Lee-Roy Echteld and his men have added another Dutch Super Cup to their trophy cabinet.
This win adds to Echteld’s growing reputation at AFAS Stadion. It marks his second trophy with the club, having taken over the reins in January after the sacking of Maarten Martens.
In April, he led the club to Dutch Cup success, their first since 2013. Now, the win over PSV means AZ Alkmaar have their second piece of silverware in a matter of months.
Echteld will hope that this victory will boost confidence ahead of the new season as they try to improve on last season’s seventh-place finish. AZ Alkmaar kick off their Eredivisie campaign at home to newly promoted ADO Den Haag on August 8.
