AZ do just enough to beat Slovan Liberec

AZ have progressed to the last 16 of the Europa League, despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Slovan Liberec.

Marek Jarolim fired an early shot wide for the away side, but AZ grabbed the opening goal when Nick Viergever escaped Yevhen Budnik and flicked his header into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 on aggregate for the hosts.

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Esteban Alvarado then kept out a Jan Rajnoch effort to ensure that AZ went into the half-time break with their lead intact.

The goalkeeper also denied Serhiy Rybalka early in the second half as the visitors pushed for an equaliser.

With 20 minutes remaining, Liberec were awarded a corner and Budnik was there to tap in after the ball had been flicked on. However, AZ held on to book a last-16 match against Anzhi Makhachkala.