Copenhagen held 0-0 in Jutland

FC Copenhagen went into their away Superliga battle with AGF knowing three points would widen the gap between Carsten V. Jensen’s men and second place FC Nordsjælland, who could only draw on Saturday afternoon.

by Joe Short

CV was forced to make one change to his first XI, to face a team who have twice held the Danish champions to draws already this season. A suspended Dame N’Doye meant Morten Nordstrand partnered César Santin up front, the rest of the squad unchanged from FCK’s 3-1 win over Brøndby last Thursday. Meanwhile, Mathias Zanka was back on the bench after seven months sidelined with injury.

Copenhagen were the first to offer a threat, when on 12 minutes Nordstrand broke clear but Steffen Rasmussen block the low effort for a corner. From the set piece, Sölvi Ottesen rose above Anders Kure to head towards goal, but Adam Eckersley did enough on the line to stop the ball creeping in.

After 20 minutes Santin combined with Nordstrand with a neat one-two to send the Brazilian through. However, his final shot floated wide of the far right hand post. Four minutes later Santin was close to connecting with Bryan Oviedo’s tantalising low cross, but the striker couldn’t make contact with his diving header.

Bolaños rattles the woodwork and the stadium

Towards the half hour mark both Martin Jørgensen and Eckersley directed long-range efforts at the FCK goal, but Johan Wiland was left unperturbed. Ten minutes before the break Nordstrand was offered an excellent chance to take the lead when Pape Pate Diouf screwed the ball back from the byline. Nordstrand hit his effort too hard however, the ball soaring over the crossbar.

After the break the home team ventured a little further forward, pushing their midfield higher up the pitch. Casper Sloth had a run on goal that Ottesen did well to guide away from danger, the AGF striker shooting into Wiland’s side netting from a forced angle. Stephen Petersen was also unlucky not to get on the end of Jørgensen’s delightful forward pass on 55 minutes.

Moments later however and Copenhagen almost took the lead in spectacular fashion. Christian Bolaños surged down the right wing, cut across the edge of the box before thundering a left-footed strike towards goal. Rasmussen’s glove barely managed to glance the ball, but it was enough to tip the effort onto the underside of the crossbar and away from goal; a rattle that echoed around the NRGi Park.

Striking changes can’t break through

Following the chance came an extended period of scrappy football, with neither side particularly successful going forward. CV made his first change on 72 minutes, bringing on Mustafa Abdellaoue for Nordstrand. Chances were still hard to come by, so off came Santin for Andreas Cornelius: the 19-year-old’s first competitive appearance in a Lions shirt.

It was Christian Grindheim who produced the most meaningful effort of the closing stages however. The centre midfielder found himself free in the corner of the AGF box and volleyed his initial blocked shot towards goal. Rasmussen was again right on hand to save, as his determined AGF side battled out another 0-0 draw with the Danish Champions.

Next up for Copenhagen is a trip to bottom-of-the-league HB Køge on Sunday. Køge drew 1-1 away to Brøndby on Monday, a point that will give them confidence going into this weekend’s clash.

AGF: 0 FC COPENHAGEN: 0

AGF: Rasmussen, Povlsen, Håland, Kure, Eckersley, Berg, Jørgensen, Nørregaard, Petersen, Sloth, Larsen.

FC Copenhagen: Wiland(C), Jacobsen, Ottesen, Sigurdsson, Oviedo, Kristensen, Grindheim, Bolaños, Diouf, Santin, Nordstrand.

Referee: Peter Rasmussen.