Heracles edge past Jong AZ in six-goal thriller
Heracles beat Jong AZ 3:2 in the Eerste Divisie on Friday evening, extending their perfect start to five wins from five matches. The result keeps them top of the table with 15 points, while Jong AZ remain eighth with nine points from six games. It was a match that swung between momentum shifts rather than settling into any comfortable rhythm.
Sem Scheperman opened the scoring in the sixth minute, a quick strike that caught the visitors off guard. By then Jong AZ were still finding their feet, and it showed when Hessel de Wit equalised for them in the 20th minute. Tycho De Wit restored Heracles' lead just before the break with a 43rd-minute goal, and that was the state of play when the teams went off.
The second half brought Jean-Paul N'djoli's fifth-minute goal to put Heracles two clear, but the visitors refused to lie down. Jerolldino Armantrading picked up a booking in the 38th minute, and by the 56th minute Heracles were making changes, bringing on Manny Rodriguez Baldera. The match stayed open, and when Sem Scheperman added his second in the 69th minute it looked like the points were sealed.
Heracles made a flurry of substitutions in the closing stages, changing four players between the 75th and 90th minutes. Tristan Van Gilst, Sem Scheperman himself, Hessel de Wit and Tycho De Wit were all replaced, while Chafik Abbas and Maurice Wrusch came on for the visitors late on. The game had been physical enough — fifteen fouls from the hosts against ten from the visitors — and both sides had taken one yellow each.
The statistics tell a story of efficiency rather than dominance. Heracles recorded 82 shots in total, 17 of which hit the target, but created zero big chances. Jong AZ managed only five shots on target from 29 attempts, yet their goalkeeper made five saves to keep them in it. Possession sat at 63 per cent for the hosts, but many of those shots went begging.
What this means for the table is straightforward. Heracles sit top with five wins and a clean record, having scored 27 goals in five matches. Jong AZ have lost three of six and sit in the bottom half, though their recent 6:3 win over Dordrecht suggests they can still trouble anyone. The gap between them remains six points, and both sides have plenty of season ahead of them.