Gil Vicente suffered a 4-0 defeat against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League play-off first leg. The Gilistas were 1-0 down with 15 minutes remaining before a late capitulation virtually ended their chances in the tie.
Dani de Wit’s firm header gave AZ a deserved half-time lead with Mayckel Lahdo, Vangelis Pavlidis and Mees de Wit completing the rout late on.
Ivo Vieira’s side never looked like scoring in the Netherlands and have next to no chance of overturning the deficit in Barcelos next week.
One way traffic
AZ Alkmaar established their dominance early on with the Dutch club continually probing in and around Gil Vicente's box.
Gil Vicente’s rare forays into the final third frequently resulted in moves breaking down, AZ's defenders effortlessly dealing with the danger posed by Ali Alipour and Élder Santana.
The breakthrough came in the 24th minute, Milos Kerkez's measured cross finding Dani de Wit who got in front of Henrique Gomes and powered his header into the net.
AZ appeared content to let the Portugues club have the ball because there was simply no penetration. Danilo Veiga was getting forward but his passes were often way off target or finding teammates who couldn’t control the ball.
The game got heated on the stroke of half-time, Kerkez’s late challenge on Kanya Fujimoto seeing the left back booked alongside Sam Beukema and Henrique Gomes.
Gil Vicente holding on
Gil Vicente continued to feed off scraps in the second half with Giorgi Aburjania’s free kick sailing way over the bar.
Myron van Brederode was proving a real handful on the left-wing, dominating Viega and forcing Aburjania into picking up a booking for preventing the 19-year-old winger breaking clear.
AZ started to pile on the pressure, Tijjani Reijnders playing a neat 1-2 with Dani de Wit who forced a smart save from Andrew.
Ivo Vieira tried to turn the tide in the 61st minute with Matheus Bueno and Kevin Villodres introduced for Aburjania and Santana.
Gil Vicente seemed content to get men behind the ball and preserve the one goal disadvantage, a dangerous tactic with AZ smelling blood in the water and the crowd starting to fire up.
Pascal Jansen made his first two changes in the 72nd minute when Milos Kerkez and Myron van Brederode made way for Mees de Wit and Mayckel Lahdo.
Vangelis Pavlidis saw a shot saved from close range after a shocking turnover from Bueno but the Dutch didn’t have to wait long for another chance to double their advantage.
Late onslaught
The goal came in the 78th minute, Hakon Evjen’s dangerous cross cleared off the post by Lucas Cunha who had replaced Tomás Araújo less than 60 seconds earlier, the ball falling straight to Lahdo who made no mistake from close range.
Andrew came off his line to take the ball off Pavlidis a metre inside his 18-yard-box but the Greek striker wouldn’t be denied. Viega’s poor pass was picked up by Reijnders, he fed Pavlidis who surged into the box and stepped inside two defenders before firing past the Brazilian goalkeeper.
If 3-0 wasn’t bad enough, Gil Vicente’s capitulation was complete in the 89th minute when the tie was put out of reach. A routine 1-2 between Reijnders and Yukinari Sugawara resulted in Sugawara’s cross finding an unmarked Mees de Wit at the back post.
Disappointment for Ivo Vieira
Ivo Vieira handed three players their first starts of the season; Tomás Araújo, Giorgi Aburjania and Élder Santana. Araújo and Santana were making their first appearances, Aburjania previously playing 22 minutes off the bench in the second leg against Riga.
The lack of cohesion was evident throughout but regardless, Vieira and his side would have been content to go back to Barcelos trailing 1-0 in the tie. It's going to be hard to convince his side that they can overturn the 4-0 deficit in Barcelos.
In the end, AZ winning 4-0 is not that surprising. The Dutch club ended last season with a 6-1 win against Vitesse and crushed Dundee United 7-0 in their previous match in Alkmaar.
