Fortuna deservedly wins at home against AZ
Fortuna Sittard won the home match against highly ranked AZ 1-0 on Sunday evening. Fortuna's victory was justified based on the chances, Rodrigo Guth crowned himself the match winner with a striking header.
After matches against Ajax and PSV, the match against AZ was already the third match in a short time against one of the top clubs in the Netherlands. The Alkmaarders, who were still active in a European context against Athletic Bilbao last Thursday, could regain a shared second place in the rankings with a win.
However, Fortuna did not let AZ get into its game and showed a healthy portion of fierceness in the personal duels. The best chances in the first half were for the home team. Makan Aïko aimed at goalkeeper Jayden Owusu-Oduro in a promising position, after a long-running attack Jasper Dahlhaus shot into the side netting with his strong left foot. The guests could only counter this with one dangerous situation, centre-forward Troy Parrot saw his shot turned away by Fortuna goalkeeper Mattijs Branderhorst. On the rebound, Ruben van Bommel aimed over.
Just before half time, the Fortuna fans cheered up. Referee Jochem Kamphuis was called aside by the VAR after a foul by Maxim Dekker on Aïko. The referee awarded Fortuna a penalty after studying the images. However, Alen Halilovic aimed the ball at the post.
Fortuna was not deterred by this setback and was initially the team with the most threat after the break. A shot from Ryan Fosso ended up out of reach of Owusu-Oduro on the post, the returning ball was pushed wide by Aïko. This was followed by a period in which the guests were more threatening, Sven Mijnans found Branderhorst in his way and a hard shot by Zico Buurmeester from twenty meters went just wide of the goal. After about 70 minutes of play, AZ made three changes with the intention of still forcing the decision in its favor.
However, it was Fortuna that scored. A corner kick from Samuel Bastien was headed in impeccably by Guth twelve minutes before official playing time expired: 1-0. The Fortuna fans, who showed great sympathy throughout the match, couldn't believe their luck. In the final phase, AZ tried to get the equalizer on the scoreboard, but there were no real big opportunities. The third victory of the season was no longer in danger for Fortuna.
Fortuna Sittard: Branderhorst, Pinto, Adewoye, Guth, Dahlhaus, Rosier, Bastien (90’ Mitrovic), Fosso, Halilovic (77’ Van Ottele), Bullaude (84’ Dijks), Aïko (77’ Erceq)