AZ Alkmaar beat Gohar 5-2 in a Regular Season match in the Eredivisie on Saturday at the AFAS Stadium. The hosts kept their four wins from four, while the visitors took their first defeat of the campaign. And here's the thing — this was not a match decided by numbers, but by three moments that changed everything.
Dave Kwakman opened the scoring in the seventh minute, and Victor Kaj Edvardsen doubled the lead just before the break. By then the visitors had already begun to look uncomfortable, and Ro Zangelo Daal made it three before the interval. Lewis Schouten added a fourth in the forty-ninth minute, and although Mateo Chávez pulled one back for Gohar, Daal struck again in the eighty-sixth minute. Mathis Suray completed the scoring in stoppage time.
The substitutions tell a story of rotation rather than desperation. AZ brought on Erik Flataker Hovden in the forty-fifth minute, Alfons Sampsted and Edvardsen together at fifty-nine, and Weslley Pinto Batista alongside Kwakman in the sixty-fourth. Gohar responded with Søren Tengstedt, Kees Smit, Elijah Dijkstra and Dean Ruben James — four changes between the sixty-ninth and seventy-seventh minutes. They were chasing the game, and by then it was already too late.
AZ Alkmaar dominated the statistics without needing to. They held 52 per cent possession, registered 96 attacks compared to 83, and created three big chances while their opponents managed the same. Expected goals stood at 2.39 for the hosts against 1.82 for the visitors, and shots on target showed 8 to 4. To be fair, Gohar were not outplayed everywhere — they won 15 interceptions to 10, and their goalkeeper made three saves. But many shots with one goal means chances went begging, and that is what happened here.
AZ Alkmaar remain top of the table with twelve points from four games. Gohar sit fifth with seven points after two wins, one draw and one loss. The hosts beat Fortuna Sittard 2-0, Utrecht 4-1, ADO Den Haag 2-0 and PSV 4-0 in their previous outings. Gohar had won against ADO Den Haag 3-1 and Willem II 4-1, but drew with Feyenoord 2-2 and lost 1-0 to Luton. The relationship has soured for the visitors — they were second to everything in the final quarter, and they gave nothing away when it mattered least.