AZ Alkmaar beat Telstar 1:0 at the AFAS Stadium in the Eredivisie's seventh round, extending their unbeaten run to seven games. The hosts sit top of the table with nineteen points after six wins and a draw. Telstar remain in thirteenth place with five points from one victory and two draws.
And here's the thing about how this game unfolded — it wasn't about volume but about who took their chance. Mexx Meerdink broke the deadlock in the nineteenth minute, a moment that stuck. AZ worked the channels all evening, creating five big chances against Telstar's zero, but only converted once.
By then Kees Smit had found the net in the fifty-fifth minute, only for the referee to cancel it with the VAR in the fifty-seventh. To be fair, it was a strange afternoon for the striker — one goal counted, one erased. That single decision changed the texture of the match, even if the scoreline stayed the same.
We had called for AZ victory with moderate confidence, and that prediction held up. The hosts controlled territory and created the clear superiority their stats show, but Telstar's keeper made seven saves to keep things tight.
The numbers tell the story: sixty-two percent possession for AZ, eight shots on target against one for the visitors. Expected goals tallied 2.35 to 0.1, meaning chances went begging on the home side. Telstar managed only two key passes compared to fifteen for AZ.
The result puts AZ four points clear at the summit, with seven games still to play. Telstar's form has been inconsistent — they drew with Herenwen last weekend but lost four of their previous five matches.
It wasn't a spectacle, but it was the kind of game that decides seasons. Three or four moments, not ninety minutes of theatre.