In a brutally painful display of bad finishing Feyenoord lost to league-leader AZ 1-0 at De Kuip. While the match could have been a rallying cry in one the last home matches of the historical season, it will instead be remembered for lost opportunities. Gertjan Verbeek had his side prepared for the challenge or so it would seem, but after controlling much of the play with a passionate performance, final touches were inexplicably bad. Both Roy Makaay and Luigi Bruins had a particularly off night's, with the latter missing twice before the break, mis-hitting from close range as well as heading a ball without any sign of pace that was easily dealt with by AZ goalkeeper Sergio Romero. Romero's play was likely the deciding factor as he robbed Giovanni van Bronckhorst of a goal bound effort before the break as well. Finally in one of their few opportunities, eleven minutes after the break Mounir El Hamdaoui handed Ari a perfect cross for an easy finish past Henk Timmer giving AZ the 1-0 lead. Without further scoring incidence the match ended in difficult to accept 1-0 loss for Feyenoord.Of significant concern is the overall health of Giovanni Van Bronckhorst who was stretchered off with two minutes remaining as he took a boot to the head. While reports are pre-mature he is not expected to play this Wednesday against Lech Poznań in the UEFA Cup.
