AZ Alkmaar
Juventus
Match summary
Juventus beat AZ Alkmaar 2-1 on the road. Juventus led 2-0 at half-time.
Teun Koopmeiners put Juventus ahead in the 19th minute, Randal Kolo Muani made it 0-2 in the 37th minute, and Mexx Meerdink pulled one back to make it 1-2 in the 88th minute.
AZ Alkmaar can feel hard done by, creating 2.19 expected goals (xG) from 18 shots to Juventus's 0.61 from 9.
AZ Alkmaar hosted Juventus in the Europa League on matchday 4, dominating the encounter statistically despite suffering a narrow defeat. The hosts recorded 56 percent possession, 18 shots to the visitors 9, and 584 passes compared to 452. AZ Alkmaar also dominated territory with 40 dangerous attacks against 25, while creating an expected goals total of 2.05 to Juventus 0.53. Despite this overwhelming pressure, high shot volume, and holding advantages in corners and pass accuracy, the home side failed to overturn a half-time deficit as discipline saw 1 yellow card issued to the hosts and 3 to the visitors alongside 33 total fouls.
Juventus established a commanding half-time advantage through 2 first-half strikes, beginning when Teun Koopmeiners opened the scoring with a left-footed shot in the 19th minute to make it 0-1. AZ Alkmaar made an early tactical change in the 23rd minute by replacing Lewis Schouten with Wesley Hoedt, who collected a yellow card in the 28th minute. Randal Kolo Muani then extended the visitors lead to 0-2 with a left-footed goal in the 37th minute. Following numerous substitutions across the second period, Mexx Meerdink scored a late left-footed goal for AZ Alkmaar in the 88th minute to reduce the deficit to 1-2 before late yellow cards for Jeff Ekhator and Juan Cabal preceded the full-time whistle.
