AZ Alkmaar win Dutch championship as PSV crush Ajax

AZ Alkmaar have won the 2008-09 Dutch Championship as their only remaining rivals, Ajax, crashed to a 6-2 defeat at previous champions PSV Eindhoven.

Ajax needed a win to postpone AZ’s championship party but Marco van Basten’s men never stood a chance in Eindhoven. Edison Mendez, Ibrahim Affelay and Nordin Amrabat gave the hosts a very comfortable lead in the first half, and Luis Suarez’ goal for 3-1 just before the break could not threaten PSV’s advantage.

In the second half, PSV continued their full domination with goals from Jason Culina and Balazs Dzsudzsak. Miralem Sulejmani made it 5-2 on 76 minutes. PSV had the final say though as substitute Otman Bakkal netted for 6-2 in added time.

AZ could have decided the title race themselves on Saturday evening, but gave away a 1-0 lead to lose 1-2 to Vitesse Arnhem. As Twente lost to Feyenoord though, Ajax’ defeat at PSV was enough for the Alkmaar outfit to secure the championship.

The side, currently managed by former Ajax and Barcelona boss Louis van Gaal, won their first championship in 1981 and have now added a second to their account.

AZ are also the only side to have broken through the dominance of Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord twice, as all other Dutch titles since 1965 were won by one of these three teams.

In 2006, AZ were about to win the Dutch league but lost 3-2 to Excelsior Rotterdam with PSV waiting to clinch the title.

Alkmaar’s mayor said on Saturday that there would be no championship celebrations in the city this Sunday. Instead, these are take place next week when AZ receive the trophy at Ajax in the capital city.