Enzo Le Fée Shines in Hard-Fought Victory
Enzo Le Fée walks away with the headlines, but this was a night built on hard running, big tackles and a goalkeeper who refused to blink when AZ found space in the box.
Roefs stands tall, defence digs in
Robin Roefs (8/10) set the tone. AZ carved out clear openings inside the area, yet each time they thought they were in, the keeper shut the door. An early one‑on‑one was smothered with his foot, a late scramble in the six‑yard box ended with him hurling himself at the ball. Those moments underpinned the win.
Ahead of him, Nordi Mukiele (8/10) tore up and down his flank. In the first half he drove forward and caused chaos, repeatedly stretching AZ’s shape. After the break he almost capped it with a goal, glancing a good headed chance just wide.
Kevin Danso (8/10) produced another assured display. He read danger early, stepped in to make blocks and clearances around his own area and even threatened at the other end. He diverted a header just wide after reacting to a wayward Granit Xhaka shot and later forced the goalkeeper into action with a fierce strike from distance.
Omar Alderete (7/10) was uncompromising while he lasted. Strong in the tackle, calm enough to turn out of the press, he looked settled before what appeared to be an early first‑half injury cut his night short. Reinildo (7/10) had a different kind of battle. Pinned back by AZ’s overload on his side, he rarely ventured forward but defended his channel with real discipline.
Xhaka controls, Sadiki and Hume graft
With the game still open, Granit Xhaka (7/10) dictated the first half. From deep, he picked passes over and through the AZ press, setting the rhythm. After the interval, the picture changed. The visitors pushed up, moved the ball quickly around him and his influence naturally dipped.
Noah Sadiki (7/10) had the sort of job that rarely makes highlight reels. AZ’s movement dragged him all over the pitch, yet he covered huge distances, snapping into spaces, stealing the ball back and disrupting their patterns.
Trai Hume (6/10) will think about his chances. He curled one effort wide before the break, then, in a quick burst after half-time, saw a low shot blocked by the keeper’s legs and headed over from the resulting corner. Outside those flashes, he drifted to the edge of the contest.
Malick Fofana (6/10) showed quality on the ball when he saw it, but that was the issue: either he received it too deep, surrounded by bodies, or not often enough to really trouble AZ.
Wilson Isidor (7/10) led the line with intelligence. He ran the channels, linked smartly with Le Fée and created danger. One sharp spin in behind ended with him squaring for Le Fée to hit the post, another opening saw him lash a presentable chance wide after a clever flick from the Frenchman.
Le Fée’s redemption arc
Enzo Le Fée (9/10) started like a man determined to gift AZ a goal. A loose pass handed them a golden opportunity, only for Roefs to rescue him. That was the turning point. From there, Le Fée took control of the attacking story.
He struck the post after racing onto an Isidor pass, then burst in behind from a Mukiele ball and forced a save. He kept threading passes that begged to be finished: delicate balls over the top for Brian Brobbey and Isidor that carved AZ open but went unpunished on the scoreboard.
Then came the decisive moment. Le Fée drove into the box, drew the foul, and stepped up himself. No fuss. He buried the penalty and with it sealed both the win and his Man of the Match status. It was the least his performance deserved.
Bench closes it out
Dan Ballard (7/10) replaced the injured Alderete and immediately tightened things up. He threw himself in front of shots around the area and helped the side see the game out under late pressure.
Thomas Meunier (6/10) entered for Hume and later shifted to right-back once Danso departed. Two roles, one steady contribution: reliable, tidy, and alert to danger.
Nilson Angulo (6/10) brought energy down the left, driving at defenders, but his final choices let him down. His big moment came in stoppage time when a rebound fell kindly; he should have scored.
Brian Brobbey (6/10) barely saw the ball until the dying minutes, then suddenly came alive. A neat one‑two with Le Fée around the box was cut out by a defender at the last second. Later he surged from halfway, looked set to smash the game beyond doubt, but chose to square across the six‑yard box instead of shooting.
Chris Rigg (6/10) added bite in midfield. He snapped at AZ heels, won possession and fed clever passes into Brobbey, helping to keep the ball in the right areas as the clock ticked down.
On a night when one mistake could have changed everything, Le Fée turned his early error into fuel and Roefs refused to yield. If this blend of resilience and risk-taking holds, what ceiling does this team really have in Europe?
