AZ Alkmaar swept aside NEC Nijmegen in the Dutch Cup final, with striker Troy Parrott and midfielder Kees Smit instrumental in a 5-1 win.
It was a fifth win in the competition for AZ, who also qualified for next season’s Europa League, while NEC extended their unenviable record of losing all six cup finals they have reached.
Their opponents will have to rely on their form in the Eredivisie, where they currently stand third, to finish their best season in years with a place in the Champions League or Europa League.
AZ took the lead in Rotterdam in the 32nd minute when Ro-Zangelo Daal dribbled into the penalty area on the left-hand side and dragged the ball back to Mees de Wit, who stroked it in with his right foot.
It was a deserved lead for the Alkmaar club, who had done most of the attacking up to that point.
Veteran midfielder Jordy Clasie crashed a shot off the underside of the crossbar from 20 metres out, while Jesper Cillessen had to be alert to keep out the rebound by Elijah Dijkstra.
Redemption for Koopmeiners
NEC’s best chance came in the 14th minute when Noé Lebreton fired just wide from Sami Ouaissa’s low cross.
AZ continued to create the better chances at the start of the second half, but De Wit’s header was easily claimed by Cillessen, while at the other end Bryan Linssen saw his shot on the turn blocked.
A second goal duly arrived in the 67th minute when Kees Smit’s incisive pass found Sven Mijnans in space in the penalty area, and the midfielder calmly steered the ball past Cillessen.
With NEC forced to push forward, Troy Parrott’s quick thinking released Peer Koopmeiners with a looping pass over the halfway line, alllowing the midfielder to run clear before chipping the ball over the goalkeeper.
It was a moment of redemption for Koopmeiners, whose handball in last year’s final gave Go Ahead Eagles the chance to equalise from the penalty spot in injury time and go on to win the cup in a shoot-out.
Koki Ogawa kept the NEC fans’ flickering hopes alive when he headed in a corner straight after play had been briefly suspended because of fireworks in the crowd.
Mijnans had the ball in the net in a second time when he tucked away a rebound after Cillessen had repelled a shot from Parrott, but video replays showed the Irishman was a fraction offside when Dijkstra crossed from the right-hand flank.
Smit, whose passing stretched NEC’s defence all afternoon, added a fourth when he lobbed the goalkeeper from the penalty spot as the clock ticked past 90 minutes, before Parrott had the last word, lashing in a rebound in the dying seconds.
