Enzo Le Fée Shines in Tense Victory Over AZ
Enzo Le Fée turned a nightmare into a statement performance as his penalty settled a tense clash with AZ – on a night when Robin Roefs and a rugged back line did the dirty work behind him.
This was a win built on nerve, recovery and a playmaker who refused to let an early mistake define his evening.
Roefs stands tall, defence digs in
AZ found gaps early. They found Roefs instead.
The goalkeeper, rated 8/10, produced two huge stops when the Dutch side carved out clear openings inside the box. First he stuck out a foot in a one-on-one to keep his side level. Late on, he flung himself into a six-yard-box scramble, smothering the danger when panic threatened to take over. Those moments framed the result.
In front of him, Nordi Mukiele matched that intensity with an 8/10 display full of running and aggression. He patrolled the flank relentlessly, especially in the first half, driving forward and unsettling AZ’s shape. After the break he almost capped it with a goal, glancing a good headed chance just wide.
Kevin Danso, also 8/10, read the game superbly. He stepped in with blocks and clearances around the box whenever AZ tried to turn pressure into shots. At the other end he nearly scored twice himself – first diverting a header from a wayward Granit Xhaka effort just past the post, then stinging the goalkeeper’s hands with a powerful strike from distance.
Omar Alderete’s night ended early, but not before he left a mark. Strong in the tackle and composed under pressure, the defender earned a 7/10 before what looked like an early first-half injury forced him off. Reinildo, also 7/10, rarely surged forward with AZ overloading his side, yet he shut down their attacks down the left with disciplined, no-nonsense defending.
Xhaka dictates, Sadiki runs, Hume threatens in flashes
For 45 minutes, this looked like a Granit Xhaka game. The captain took a 7/10, largely thanks to a first half where he dictated tempo from deep, clipping passes over the AZ press and setting attacks in motion. After the interval, the visitors pushed higher and moved the ball quicker around him, making his influence harder to impose.
Noah Sadiki’s role demanded energy and awareness, and he delivered both for his 7/10. Faced with constant movement from AZ’s midfield and forwards, he covered huge swathes of ground, nipping in to steal possession and disrupting their rhythm.
Trai Hume, given 6/10, lived a stop-start kind of night. He found space for a curling effort that drifted wide in the first half, then burst into life again after the break with two rapid chances – one low strike blocked by the keeper’s legs, the next a header over from the resulting corner. Outside those moments, his influence faded.
Malick Fofana showed flashes but never quite caught fire. Rated 6/10, he looked tidy on the ball, yet too often received it in deep, crowded areas where AZ could swarm him and shut down any real threat.
Up front, Wilson Isidor’s 7/10 came from relentless running and smart movement into the channels. He linked well with Le Fée, spinning in behind to set up the Frenchman for a shot that crashed off the post, then later blasting a decent chance wide after a clever flick from Le Fée sent him through again.
Le Fée’s redemption arc
The night belonged to Enzo Le Fée.
His first major action? A sloppy pass that handed AZ a golden chance. Only Roefs’ intervention spared him. From there, something flipped.
Given 9/10 and named Man of the Match, Le Fée drove his team forward at every turn. He rattled the post after a sharp move with Isidor, then broke in behind from a Mukiele ball and forced another save. His vision repeatedly sliced AZ open – delicate clipped passes over the top for Brian Brobbey and Isidor that should have brought more.
The pressure finally told when Le Fée darted into the box, drew the foul, and then stepped up himself to convert from the spot. Composed, decisive, and fully in control of his own redemption.
He didn’t stop there. He kept threading passes, kept demanding the ball, kept creating. The penalty was the headline, but the body of work behind it was what truly separated him.
Bench keeps the door shut
The substitutes were asked to close the game out. They did.
Dan Ballard, on for Alderete, slotted in seamlessly for a 7/10. He reacted quickly to danger around the area, getting in the way of shots and crosses as AZ chased an equaliser.
Thomas Meunier, rated 6/10, first replaced Hume higher up and then dropped into right-back once Danso departed. He handled both roles with calm assurance, helping steady the right side in the closing stages.
Nilson Angulo brought energy down the left and earned a 6/10. He drove at defenders, looked positive in possession, but his decision-making let him down. His big moment came in stoppage time when a rebound fell kindly to him – and he really should have scored.
Brobbey, also 6/10, barely saw the ball until the game stretched in injury time. When it finally opened up, he twice threatened to kill it off. A neat one-two with Le Fée around the box was cut out at the last second by a defender, then a powerful run from halfway looked destined to end with the net bulging. Instead, he chose to square the ball across the six-yard box, and the chance vanished.
Chris Rigg’s cameo, rated 6/10, was all about bite and intelligence. He snapped into challenges, nicked the ball off AZ players and then fed clever passes into Brobbey to relieve pressure and turn defence into attack.
By the final whistle, the pattern was clear: Roefs’ saves at one end, Le Fée’s spark at the other, and a supporting cast that did just enough in between.
If this is the standard – resilience under pressure, a playmaker willing to take risks, a goalkeeper ready to bail out mistakes – what does that say about where this team can go from here?
