AZ Alkmaar’s hopes of winning the double domestically was brought to an end prematurely after they were beaten in the semi-finals of the KNVB Beker by Heracles Almelo. The 4-2 extra time defeat suffered by the club is a shock result, but it is one that will bring an end to the hopes of winning the domestic double.
AZ Alkmaar’s Gertjan Verbeek was speaking in confidence regarding their inability to get past Heracles Almelo in the semifinals, but they are unable to break down a stubborn Heracles Almelo side, led by Andy van der Meyde. The club recently saw its lead in the Dutch table reduced to just one point over Ajax, but was looking extremely strong against Heracles Almelo earlier in the match.
Heracles Almelo were coming into the match on the back four consecutive defeats in the domestic competitions, and things looked extremely bad for the team early in the match. They were soon behind in the match after two fantastic goals from AZ Alkmaar had given them a 2-1 advantage in the match. However, Heracles had a few great moments in the second half, which helped them equalise and take the match into extra time. In the extra time, Heracles made AZ Alkmaar pay for their inability to finish the game, as they soon built a 4-2 lead over AZ Alkmaar.
Everton had opened the scoring for Heracles before Maher and Gudmundsson scored in quick succession to give AZ Alkmaar the advantage in the match. Quansah, though, had other plans for Heracles, as his equaliser helped the club take the match into extra time. Bruns opened the scoring in the 110th minute, which broke the deadlock between the two clubs. It looked like it was going to be sufficient for Heracles, but AZ Alkmaar threw many men forward and were consecutively punished on the counter-attack by Gouriye.