Neither side created much in an uninspiring opening in Yerevan as AZ initially struggled to break through a resilient home defence. However, as attacking pressure from the Dutch giants stepped up, the hosts finally cracked in the 21st minute as Valdemar Byskov measured a perfect free-kick into Joao Bravim’s top corner to register his first goal for Lee-Roy Echteld’s charges.
That flash of quality supercharged the visitors’ confidence, and Weslley Patati brilliantly doubled their advantage just six minutes later, as he emphatically curled home from the edge of Bravim’s box.
Aarat-Armenia continued to struggle after the restart, as AZ flooded forward in search of a third goal to kill off the contest, with Bravim forced into action to smartly paw away fierce drives from Byskov and Peer Koopmeiners. Buoyed by the heroics of their goalkeeper, the home side began to show some ambition as Zhirayr Shaghoyan’s low drive had Jari De Busser scrambling across his goal line to thwart their first attempt on target in the 55th minute.
With the hosts seizing some momentum late on, as Shaghoyan and Artur Serobyan tested De Busser, AZ ruthlessly then retook control. Patati calmly chipped home Ro-Zangelo Daal’s clever pass for his second goal of the game, after the home side overcommitted to a counterattack.
That punctured Aarat-Armenia’s hopes of a revival, and Mexx Meerdink came off the bench to snatch a fourth goal, nodding home from close range after more weak defending with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Victory for Echteld in far-flung Armenia pulls AZ up to eighth place in the 36-team Europa League table, just inside the automatic knockout stage qualification places, with six points on the board.
Another heavy defeat Ararat-Armenia keeps Tulipa’s team on zero points after three games in their debut Europa League campaign, and they sit rock bottom of the rankings.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Weslley Patati (AZ Alkmaar)