0-0 in Borisov
Coach Ståle Solbakken named an unchanged XI from his side’s victory over Esbjerg at the weekend, as Copenhagen embarked on their first European encounter of the new season.
By Joe Short
Their opponents, BATE Borisov, had behind them a sell-out crowd to support their Belarusian side at an overcast Haradzki Stadion, with a few hardy FCK fans making the trip over the Balkans.
The game began as a cagey affair, with little of note happening in the opening ten minutes as both sides struggled with the wet playing surface. FCK had the better of the opening, offering a desire to penetrate their opponent’s back-line, but to no avail.
Dame N’Doye was the first to be involved in a notable incident, being judged to have elbowed defender Igor Shitov as they clashed in the air for control of a long ball. The referee immediately showed N’Doye a yellow card for the challenge, as the BATE defender quickly recovered.
It was past the quarter-hour mark when the game began to come to life. A high ball over the top from William Kvist saw N’Doye through on goal, but the Senegalese was tackled as he was about to shoot.
The Copenhagen pressure continued, and in the 25th minute should have been rewarded with a goal from a fine move. Zden?k Pospech battled hard to retain possession down the right wing and, after turning inside and beating the BATE left back for pace, sent a delightful cross to the back post where N’Doye was lurking. Indecision over whether to head the ball or stick out a leg meant the striker could only lunge at the ball, sending it wide of an open goal.
For the rest of the half BATE controlled the majority of possession, but put little pressure on Johan Wiland’s goal. Indeed, it was the away side that looked most like scoring, but two over-hit corners were all Solbakken could get out of his side before the break.
Whereas FCK controlled the opening of the first half, it was BATE who dominated the start of the second. Constant pressure through the middle of the park meant Wiland was called on just three minutes after the restart. The Lion’s stopper tipped a venomous strike from Vitali Rodionov over the bar, while his defenders Sölvi Ottesen and Mikael Antonsson had to be dominant in the air from set pieces.
Indeed, Ottesen proved his worth to the team as Rodionov danced through the FCK midfield, working his way to the edge of the 6-yard box, only to be met by a strong challenge from the Icelandic.
Copenhagen found their footing eventually, and in the 51st minute Cesar Santin should have done better with an effort that trickled harmlessly to the keeper. A few minutes later, a strong challenge by N’Doye gave the away side a 4-on-2 counter attack. Santin played the ball left into Martin Vingaard’s path, but before the winger could claim the ball it was intercepted.
In the 79th minute, N’Doye was again the architect in another counter attacking move: he wriggled through two challenges in his own half to set Claudemir free on the right. However, the Brazilian couldn’t find the corner in a tight angled shot, and again the keeper easily gathered a tepid effort.
With ten minutes left on the clock Solbakken made his first change, with Santin being replaced by Jesper Gronkjaer, as Copenhagen switched to a 4-5-1 formation. This formation worked well as the away side soaked up any attack the Belarusian’s threw at them, with a handful of corners all that the home side could boast of.
FCK were looking settled and happy to take the draw at the close of the game. However, in the dying seconds the Lions had a great chance to take a 1-0 aggregate lead back to PARKEN. Another counter attacked spearheaded by N’Doye created time and space for Pospech to run into on the edge of the area. He pulled his shot however, and again the ball rolled wide to leave Ståle Solbakken’s side forcibly content with the 0-0 aggregate score.
