AZ Alkmaar returned to winning ways on Sunday night in the Eredivise with a 5-1 victory over relegation threatened FC Emmen.
West Ham United head to Alkmaar’s AFAS Stadion on Thursday night in the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final, with the Hammers taking a 2-1 first leg lead into the tie and place in June’s final in Prague against either Basel or Fiorentina up for grabs.
Given the quick turnaround from the first leg to a return to league action for both West Ham and Alkmaar, the Hammers opted to heavily rotate their side, making nine changes for their 2-0 loss to Brentford on Sunday afternoon.
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Alkmaar however did go strong for their league meeting against third-bottom side Emmen. While Emmen are fighting for survival, Alkmaar are still chasing a third-placed finish, which would qualify them for the final round of qualifying for next season’s Europa League.
Alkmaar manager Pascal Jansen made just two changes from the first leg defeat to face Emmen in the Dutch top-flight, one of which saw first choice left-back Milos Kerkez return to the side after being suspended for the first leg.
Hoping to bounce back in the league from their midweek loss to West Ham, AZ found themselves 5-0 up at half-time through five different scorers. Sven Mijnans, Myron van Brederode, Tijjani Reinders, Sam Beukema and Jordy Claise all netted before the break to seal victory in the first half.
Emmen did get a goal back in the second half early on through former Ajax and Sheffield United forward Richario Zivkovic, although it proved to be no more than a consolation.
With AZ cruising, on 65 minutes they made a quadruple substitution, taking off Yukinari Sugawara, Vangelis Pavlidis, Mijnans and Van Brederode, with the latter being replaced by Swedish star winger Jesper Karlsson, who missed the first leg defeat to West Ham through injury.
For West Ham, a number of their key players have been given a weekend rest, with Lucas Paqueta, Thilo Kehrer, Alphonse Areola, Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell and Kurt Zouma all not featuring at Brentford after starting in the second leg, while Declan Rice, Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen were only introduced as second half substitutes.
Whether the right thing to do was to rest, or continue to play West Ham’s key men, will be proved on Thursday night in Alkmaar.
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