Following Ajax and Feyenoord, PSV also took three points. At Philips Stadion, coach Phillip Cocu's team beat AZ 3-0 thanks to a good first half. Luuk de Jong was the big man with two goals.
Joshua Brenet played another excellent match | © Pics United
PSV convinces, two goals Luuk de Jong
In a windy Philips Stadium, PSV had nothing to fear from AZ in the first half. The team looked sharp and almost immediately went in search of the visitors' goal. That approach to play resulted in the lead after only three minutes, although the goal came about somewhat fortuitously. A corner kick by Guardado ended up with AZ defender Luckassen via Bruma, who totally surprised his own goalkeeper: 1-0. A good ten minutes later it was already 2-0. De Jong was the end of a fine attack, set up by Brenet. The back dribbled into the AZ penalty area, outplayed his man and found the head of the captain, who in turn nodded his effort into the net: 2-0. A handful of good chances later, De Jong poked PSV's third goal behind Coutinho shortly before halftime. This time it was Pereiro's preparatory work that sent two opponents into the woods and gave De Jong a chance he could not miss. He promoted that chance to a goal: 3-0.
Joy at de Jong and Pereiro after the 3-0 against AZ | © Pics United
Little spectacle after halftime
De Jong thus scored his thirteenth premier league goal of the season before halftime. After halftime the captain was involved in an incident that had much less to do with football. After exactly an hour of play, Luckassen hit De Jong on the head unnecessarily during a duel for the ball. Referee Liesveld saw it and gave the defender a deserved red card. In terms of entertainment value, the second half was significantly less than the first. PSV made little attempt to increase the score and AZ was simply powerless to make things difficult for Cocu's team. Especially with ten men, the visitors were unable to make a fist. Brenet almost scored the fourth goal from distance, but his shot hit the crossbar.