AZ Alkmaar rally from a goal down to upset Lazio in Europa Conference League

ROME: Dutch club AZ Alkmaar rallied from a goal down to upset Lazio 2-1 in their Europa Conference League round-of-16 first leg on Tuesday.

Lazio, who beat Serie A leader Napoli last weekend, took the lead in the 18th minute with a strike from former Spain forward Pedro Rodríguez, playing in a face mask after breaking his nose.

The visitors, who have lost just one of their last 12 games in all competitions, recovered from a slow start and Vangelis Pavlidis netted the equalizer shortly before halftime.

Defender Milos Kerkez scored the winner in the 62nd minute.

“This was a bit of a fluke result because we created a lot of chances and conceded from both of theirs,” Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri said. “The string of missed chances tonight is too long.”

AZ coach Pascal Jansen added, “I’m not surprised because I know what my team can do.”

The rest of the matches in the third-tier Europa Conference League will take place on Thursday with the return leg on March 16.

Lazio’s match was on Tuesday because Roma will play at home in the Europa League on Thursday in same stadium.