3-0 win maintains Superliga lead

12/08 2012 21:12

FC Copenhagen kept their gap at the top of the Superliga to three points after a stunning 3-0 win over AGF. Two goals from César Santin and Andreas Cornelius’ wonder strike sealed victory in PARKEN.

by Joe Short

Head coach Ariel Jacobs made two changes to his squad that beat Club Bruges in Belgium on Wednesday, bringing back Kris Stadsgaard to the middle of defence while Cornelius was handed a start up front with Santin. Claudemir was also making his Superliga return following his red card on the first day of the season.

AGF were the first to threaten after a slow opening 10 minutes, Aron Jóhannsson deflecting a driven Søren Berg effort through a group of players to force Wiland to parry. The goalkeeper did well to scoop the resulting loose ball away from goal, and in 20 seconds time FCK almost scored at the other end when Steffen Rasmussen recovered from his fumble to block Christian Bolaños’ tap in.

Nicolai Jørgensen was next to test Rasmussen, stinging the keeper’s fingertips with a fine effort from range. Moments later and FCK should have taken the lead when a four-v-four counter attack saw Bolaños free on the edge of the box, but Santin chose to shoot and miss instead.

Bolaños brilliance creates wonder goal

Just before half time Ragnar Sigurdsson had a half-chance to open the scoring after Rasmussen missed Bryan Oviedo’s corner kick. Sigurdsson tried to force the ball through a tightly packed six-yard box, but to no avail as it span wide of the goal.

The half-time break saw no changes to Jacobs’ squad, and FCK came out fighting. Four minutes in and referee Michael Johansen turned away a sure penalty, when Anders Kure took both of Santin’s legs away from him. AGF almost capitalised on this luck just minutes later, Wiland stretching full length to palm Berg’s low shot around his left-hand post.

In emphatic South American style however, FCK took the lead on 57 minutes. Bolaños made room for himself in front of the AGF defence, and rather than thread a tight ball through to Santin, simply scooped it over the backline instead. Santin read the play to perfection, stretching out a leg to volley the ball over Rasmussen’s head and into the net.

Stinging strike makes it 2-0!

Bolaños turned provider once again just six minutes after the opening goal, when he weaved his way in front of the AGF box before laying off to Cornelius. The young striker needed no second invitation to shoot from distance, blasting his effort into the bottom left corner to make it 2-0 FCK!

Things got even better for Copenhagen on 67 minutes when Stephan Petersen handballed a bouncing cross in the AGF box. All Santin had to do was step up and stroke home the resulting penalty, but his shot rattled off the crossbar and Claudemir couldn’t convert the rebound.

The penalty miss somewhat spurred AGF on, and shortly after they forced a couple of corners that caused confusion in Copenhagen’s box. But FCK escaped any serious threat, and had two half chances themselves in Cornelius’ counter-attacking slice and Santin’s saved effort. On 77 minutes Bolaños was given a huge cheer when coming off for Pierre Bengtsson, the Costa Rican had ran the show in the second half.

Penalty reprieve for Santin

Seconds after the substitution Oviedo missed a golden chance to score, slicing a rapid move high into the crowd behind Rasmussen’s net. Yet FCK did not have long to wait for the next chance, when Petri Pasanen tripped Cornelius on the byline of the box. Santin stepped up to take his second penalty, and nailed his effort left of the keeper for 3-0.

FCK showed no sign of slowing down in the dying stages of the game, first Martin Vingaard rattling Rasmussen’s fists with a fierce free-kick before Mos Abdellaoue headed over the bar from close range. They couldn’t force another goal however, yet Jacobs will be happy with the 3-0 result and performance from his squad.

FC COPENHAGEN: 3 AGF: 0

FC Copenhagen: Wiland, Jacobsen (C), Stadsgaard, Sigurdsson, Oviedo, Bolaños, Claudemir, Kristensen, Jørgensen, Santin, Cornelius.

AGF: Rasmussen, Kirkeskov, Pasanen, Kure, Eckersley, Petersen, Sloth, Nørregaard, Berg, Devdariani, Jóhannsson.

Goals: Santin (57’ & 80’ pen.), Cornelius (63’).

Referee: Michael Johansen.