AZ Alkmaar hold the upper hand in their Europa League last-16 showdown with Udinese after securing a 2-0 first-leg lead.
Udinese undone on Dutch soil
AZ Alkmaar hold the upper hand in their Europa League last-16 showdown with Udinese after securing a 2-0 first-leg lead.
The in-form Dutch outfit saw their unbeaten run in continental competition stretched to 10 games thanks to second-half efforts from Maarten Martens and Erik Falkenburg.
The Eredivisie outfit could have been even further in front had they been more ruthless in front of goal, but they will head to Italy next week confident of booking their place in the quarter-finals.
Kwadwo Asamoah had the first shot of the game after three minutes, but the rest of the first half belonged to the hosts with Rasmus Elm's shot parried by Samir Handanovic minutes later.
Handanovic once again chose the easier option of pushing the ball away to deny Brett Holman in the 19th minute as AZ pushed forward in search of an opener.
They pegged Udinese back inside their own half, but rarely posed a tangible threat to Handanovic's goal.
Attack
In fact, the closest either side came to opening the scoring in the first half was when Pablo Armero's deflected shot was tipped over the crossbar and Esteban Alvarado made a good save to deny Danilo from the subsequent corner.
Udinese started the second half better with Giovanni Pasquale volleying wide.
But it was during the Serie A side's best phase of the match that AZ went in front with Jozy Altidore's cross taking a deflection off Pasquale to sit up for Martens to head in at the near post.
Damiano Ferronetti missed an open goal on the stretch at the far post in the 67th minute as Udinese were forced to attack more.
This left them more susceptible at the back and they conceded a second in the 84th minute with Altidore again the provider from the right, this time finding substitute Falkenburg in the centre and he slid the ball past Handanovic.
Handanovic made a fine diving save to push Falkenburg's shot over the crossbar in the 89th minute before Altidore sent a free header straight at the Udinese custodian from close range in stoppage time.
With those chances failing to hit the back of the net, Udinese still have a glimmer of hope for the second leg at the Stadio Friuli next week, although the tie is AZ's to throw away.
