Koopmeiners and Kolo Muani give Juventus the win at AZ
Juventus scored twice before half-time at the AFAS Stadium and held on after Mexx Meerdink's late goal for AZ in the Europa League.
By Harvey Watkins,
Juventus won 2-1 at AZ on Thursday evening in the fourth round of Europa League fixtures. First-half goals from Teun Koopmeiners and Randal Kolo Muani put them in control, and a reply from Mexx Meerdink two minutes from time came too late to change the result.
The goals
- 19 minutes: Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus), 0-1
- 37 minutes: Randal Kolo Muani (Juventus), 0-2
- 88 minutes: Mexx Meerdink (AZ), 1-2
A first half that settled it
The match turned on an 18-minute stretch in the first half. Koopmeiners opened the scoring on 19 minutes, and Kolo Muani doubled the lead on 37, eight minutes before the interval. That meant Juventus went in at half-time two goals clear, and for an away side that is a substantial cushion. It put the burden on AZ to score twice merely to draw level.
The scoreline does not say how either goal was made, and it would be wrong to read more into it than it holds. What it does show is that Juventus took their scoring chances in the first half, and that the second goal arrived soon enough after the first to leave AZ chasing for the rest of the night.
A long wait for a reply
After Kolo Muani's goal, nothing changed for 51 minutes. Juventus did not add a third, and AZ did not find a way back into the game until the 88th minute. That stretch can be read in two ways. Juventus did not put the match beyond doubt, and AZ were unable to score while there was still time to build on a goal.
When Meerdink did score, it made the closing minutes tighter than most of the evening had been. With only the last couple of minutes and whatever was added on remaining, AZ needed a second goal almost immediately, and it did not come.
What the result shows
For Juventus, this was an away win built on two first-half goals and a lead they held through the second half, even if they did not keep a clean sheet. For AZ, Meerdink's goal changed the margin of defeat, not the result. A one-goal loss to Juventus reads differently from a two-goal one, but the points went to Italy.
A single scoreline is a thin basis for broader conclusions about either side. On this evidence, the decisive difference was timing. Juventus scored twice when the game was still open, and AZ scored once when it was nearly over.