FCK - Brøndby 1-0 (0-0)
High tempo, intensive fight, lots of chances, a red card – and a single goal by Fredrik Berglund sent Copenhagen top of the table again and gave Brøndby their first defeat of the season.
Brøndby opened the game best and after just 2 minutes, a high cross from left back Morten Rasmussen nearly caught keeper Jesper Christiansen off guard, but he managed to clear for a corner.
Gradually the play began to flow both ways, and the home team came close after 10 minutes, when Marcus Allbäck headed a precise cross from Lars Jacobsen just outside the far post. Brøndby had a fine opportunity came after 18 minutes, when Christiansen couldn’t hold on to a free kick, but Mark Howard failed to get a shot in, before Christiansen secured the ball.
Captain Tobias Linderoth - a reliable engine in central midfield
After the first 15 minutes, Copenhagen gradually got a grip on the game, and continued to produce fine chances. Brede Hangeland flicked the ball on to Allbäck after a long throw-in from Jacobsen, but the Swedish striker headed just over the crossbar from close range. A few minutes later Allbäck served the ball for Michael Silberbauer, who also hammered it ball just over the bar from a good position.
After half an hour Allbäck got his third big chance, when Hjalte Nørregaard found him with an accurate pass, but the Swede sent the ball just outside the post. Five minutes later Brøndby-stopper Mark Howard caused his team serious problems, when he was sent off for a harsh tackle on Atiba Hutchinson. Ten minutes earlier the ex-Manchester United reserve had been booked for not giving the ball away after the whistle had gone, and this time the referee saw no alternative but to show him both the yellow and the red card…
Copenhagen continued to dominate the rest of the first half, and the best goalscoring attempt came from the industrious Atiba Hutchinson, who headed just wide on yet another fine cross from right back Lars Jacobsen.
Atiba Hutchinson - F.C. Copenhagens Man of The Match
After the break Copenhagen – and especially Atiba Hutchinson - looked determined to maintain their dominance. “Hutch” had a good effort after two minutes, but hammered the ball over the bar, and the minute after he had a good shot blocked by Brøndby-captain Per Nielsen. In the 50th minute the Canadian served the ball perfectly for left back Oscar Wendt, and the Swedish U21-international hit the post only to see his fellow countryman Fredrik Berglund follow up and send the ball over the line with an easy header.
A deserved lead for the reigning champions, but a one-goal-lead is of course never enough to lean back and relax – especially not in these high-prestige intensive derby-matches against the rivals from Brøndby, who continued to try to come back in the game. But the odds were against Brøndby, playing 10 against 11, and they never really threatened the Copenhagen-defence until a few minutes before the whistle, when Jesper Christiansen brilliantly saved a shot from Thomas Rasmussen from around 25 meters.
Earlier Berglund might have had a penalty, when it seemed as he was brought down in the area by Morten Rasmussen, but the referee saw no foul and consequently booked Berglund for diving. Silberbauer and Hutchinson could have doubled the lead, but there were no more goals in the game, and after the first third is played of the Super League, Copenhagen stay top of the table with a game in hand…
Marcus Allbäck with the ball
After the game head coach Ståle Solbakken was very pleased with the performance, emphasizing the fact that it was the fourth consecutive win in the Super League and Danish Cup in the same period as Copenhagen have made their debut in the UEFA Champions League. And while the offensive play has not been optimal against Benfica and Celtic, Copenhagen created a dozen good opportunities against Brøndby and, in Solbakkens opinion, fully deserved the victory.
