Close, but no cigar!
Long into the second half it looked as if F.C. Copenhagen would add yet another to their recent string of great achievements in European competitions. Solbakken’s cautious game plan was spot on and was carried out to perfection by every one of the Copenhagen players, and, to top it all off, Wilands penalty save midway through the first half seemed to indicate that on the might the Danes might just have that extra bit of luck that is sometimes needed against teams of this calibre.
In the 72nd minute however, through a sudden moment of sheer brilliance in the form of a simple, but excellently executed counter-attack, PSV forced F.C. Copenhagen to change their tactics. Remarkably, three quick substitutions meant that F.C. Copenhagen responded in kind and did actually produce a number of chances through the final stages but although both Grønkjær and Ailton made very respectable efforts on goal, this night, lady luck had in fact picked the wrong team to root for.
By Lars Kristensen
Aside from the promising display made by the F.C. Copenhagen players on away turf against the toughest opponent in the group, our international fans will be glad to also learn that despite tonight’s loss progression to the knockout stages is still well within our grasp with just one point separating us from second place in the group.
Jesper Grønkjær
- When given some room in midfield they become a great side so our plan was to close the gaps between the three lines, stand our ground, and bet on counter-attacking. On the whole that set of tactics succeeded quite well, I think, although it did not yield as many opportunities as we had hoped it would. In a way it really is kind of ironic however, that they happen to score on a bounce off of just one of our counter-attacks.
Johan Wiland
- I had not done any special preparations to pre-empt an accidental penalty kick; I just tried not to give myself away too early and fortunately I went to the right side. Conversely, that goal of theirs was just so frustrating coming off a great chance on our part but admittedly he executed very well.
Thomas Kristensen
- On a number of occasions we went full throttle on the counter-attack and really brought forth a lot of players but in the end we just seemed to lack that last something in order to create a real scoring opportunity. In midfield we managed to contain them well throughout most of the game, so in most respects I am quite happy about our performance tonight.
Next on the Europa League agenda is the reverse fixture at home against PSV. That game kicks off at 5 Nov at 21.05 at the PARKEN Stadium.
Game stats:
P.S.V. Eindhoven - F.C. Copenhagen 1-0 (0-0)
1-0 Reis (72)
