Makhachkala residents lost to AZ Alkmaar in the 1/8 finals of the Europa League

Makhachkala Anzhi lost away to the Dutch AZ Alkmaar in the first match of the 1/8 finals of the Europa League with a score of 0:1. It would be fairer, however, to say that the Russian team lost not so much to its opponent as to fortune, which was clearly “anti-Russian” that evening.

Photo: Paul Vreeker/United Photos, Reuters

Anji head coach Gadzhi Gadzhiev once noted that the Europa League in its current position (Anzhi has long settled at the bottom of the Russian championship standings) is not really needed, because it only takes away strength. This, however, did not in any way prevent the Makhachkala team from reaching the 1/8 finals of the “unnecessary” tournament, where AZ Alkmaar awaited them under the leadership of the former, and one cannot exclude the future, coach of Zenit, Dick Advocaat.

The first minutes of the match created the impression that this game was really a burden for Anzhi, that the team just wanted to serve their number and go home. It’s just that the territorial advantage of the home team was not just noticeable, but close to total. Actually, in the first 10 minutes of the meeting, Anzhi crossed the center of the field a few times.

However, it soon became clear that Dick Advocaat's team, while solid in terms of keeping the ball, was equally unconvincing in terms of putting it into the goal. After all, there simply were no real threats to Mikhail Kerzhakov’s goal. But Anzhi almost scored in the first meaningful counterattack. Although the word “slightly” is perhaps superfluous here. “Anji”, it seems, really forgot, but the referee thought otherwise. Although you shouldn’t judge him strictly either. The moment in which Alexander Bukharov threw the ball behind his back with a header to Esteban Alvorado, who had left the goal, and, as it seemed, got the ball already behind the goal line, could really be correctly understood if a sane system of electronic recording of a goal was used in football. But she's not there yet.

Soon Anji was unlucky again. In the middle of the half, in a generally harmless situation, the ball hit Ali Gadzhibekov in the hand, and given that it was in the penalty area, a penalty was awarded against Anzhi. No luck with him either. Only to Kerzhakov, who parried Aron Johansson’s shot. It seemed to reflect reliably. But the ball spun treacherously and still flew over the goalkeeper and dived into the goal.

The list of moments in which Anzhi was unlucky can be continued. Alexander Aliyev's shot hit the crossbar, and if it had hit a little lower, it would have been a beautiful goal. Bukharov hit again and missed again. Aliyev could have scored again, but this time the defenders of the Dutch team who happened to be nearby stood in the way of the ball. And in general, it must be admitted that after the missed goal, Anzhi looked much more interesting than their opponents, making not only the Dutch players nervous, but also Dick Advocaat, who got so angry that he had a fight with the referee, for which he was expelled from the bench. Unfortunately, the Makhachkala team failed to at least equalize the score. However, a 0:1 defeat leaves every chance of advancing to the next round.

Arnold Kabanov

"Anzhi" lost just a little