FCK Weekly News: 25th – 31st October
There was concern at the club on Monday over a sprained ankle picked up by Cesar Santin the previous weekend, where the striker came off at half time in F.C. Copenhagen’s 3-0 away win against Silkeborg IF. A scan proved the sprain to be enough to leave the striker out of the week’s two fixtures, although further clarification over his fitness for the coming week is yet to be resolved.
by Joe Short
In wake of FCK’s fourth round tie against AC Horsens in the Ekstra Bladet Cup, Sports Director Carsten V. Jensen described the importance of such a competition and the tension individual games can create:
- Unlike the normal showdown in the Superliga of a ‘make or break’ game, if necessary, extra time and a penalty shootout will determine the winner. That is partly what makes this cup so special. There is no second chance; so it is important to deliver now.
- The Danish Cup is also a shortcut to European football, which – for example – last year's winners FC Nordsjælland profited from. Therefore, AC Horsens will certainly come here with everything they can muster, in an attempt to beat us in our own lair.
Horsens prove tough test in Cup
And, on Wednesday, Mr. Jensen was proven quite right, as Horsens scored four over a changed FCK side to knock the Danish champions out of the Cup, winning the game 4-2. Horsens took the lead on the half hour, when Thomas Kortegaard pounced on a spilled shot to knock past Kim Christensen in goal. Five minutes later Thomas Kristensen equalized with a superb volleyed effort into the Horsens bottom left hand corner from a Jesper Grønkjær cross.
Just before the half time break, Horsens’ Morten Rasmussen stuck a leg out at the far post to connect with an inswinging cross to give the away side the lead again; and, in the 60th minute, Niels Lodberg converted a penalty to make it 3-1.
The Lions changed to a 3-5-2 formation shortly afterwards, and grabbed a goal back from a goalmouth scramble. Mathias Zanka forced the ball into the back of the net after Horsens goalkeeper Søren Jochumsen saved an initial effort. However, the fight-back could not be complete, as Horsens striker Macena beat the offside trap with eight minutes remaining on the clock, and coolly slid the ball past the helpless Christensen.
“It is hard to win when you concede the four goals at home”
After the game, head coach Ståle Solbakken reflected on his team’s 4-2 loss and expulsion from Cup competition:
- We showed too little energy in the first half, although we had many good, fresh players in the starting line up; but I'm happy enough with the last ten minutes before the break and the final 35 minutes of the second half. There, we played well and created many chances – so many that it should normally have be enough to win such a battle. But we committed too many defensive mistakes, and here we were punished severely. After the break, Horsens really only had two chances; they scored. And so it is hard to win when you concede the four goals at home.
- We decided to use the Cup matches in part to keep some of the players in motion that do not play regularly in the other tournaments, and to develop some of the younger players who would otherwise mostly play reserve team football. Now we will miss some Cup matches where I had previously assumed that at least we should reach the quarter or semifinals. But I would also like to stress that I have full confidence in the players who played today, and I would have done the same again.
In anticipation of Saturday’s home Superliga tie against Lyngby IF, Solbakken was quick to the point about his team selection, without elaborating much from it:
- The team against Lyngby will be close to the team that played against Barcelona.
Caution should be sought for Lyngby match-up
With FCK still hurting from their midweek loss, attention turned towards the Superliga on Friday, as Carsten V. Jensen explained how the 3-0 win over Lyngby IF in August may not be repeated on Saturday afternoon:
- I am afraid that Lyngby BK has learned from the aforementioned match (the 3-0 win) and plans to give us a battle to the finish this time.
- The team, with Niels Frederiksen as head coach, played better than the result showed. Their attack was strong with Kim Aabech and a pair of strong flanks in the leading roles. Unfortunately, the team has lost one of these in the form of Emil Larsen – who has a serious knee injury – but still there is plenty of quality in the team that suggests Lyngby FC may well prolong their stay in the country's top division.
Zohore provides young blood in firey encounter
And, once again, Mr. Jensen had it spot on. The game on Saturday was far from the tie two months ago, as F.C. Copenhagen were forced to battle back from a goal down to take all three points in the dying seconds of an enthralling game. The first XI was almost a complete turn around from the Lions’ midweek Cup game, with all but Zanka and Kenneth Zohore being replaced in the starting line up. Indeed, this decision looked to have proved genius by Solbakken, as Zohore scored his first goal for the club with his first meaningful opportunity. The young striker collected an intercepted pass on the edge of the Lyngby area, and curled a delightful shot into the top right corner of the net.
At 1-0, Copenhagen appeared comfortable enough, and yet were powerless to prevent Kim Aabech’s free kick from drawing the scores level on 22 minutes. Various chances came and went as the game progressed, and yet neither side could continue the scoring until the 86th minute, when midfielder Lasse Rise side-footed a neat shot into Johan Wiland’s near post before the keeper could reach in time; stunning PARKEN as the away side took a 2-1 lead.
Their advantage lasted just over a minute however, as substitute Morten Nordstrand rose high to beat Horsens goalkeeper Rune Pedersen to a corner, and headed home the equalizer for the Danish champions. And, in the remaining seconds of the game, Sölvi Ottesen – thrown on by Solbakken to play a forward’s role to give aerial presence up front – appeared at the far post to pounce on a Christian Bolaños cross and squeeze Copenhagen to victory. The mass player pile-on in celebration of the goal showed how much the win meant to the players, who maintain the clubs 14-point lead at the summit of the Superliga.
Three points relief for Solbakken
In the post-match interview, Solbakken was evidently delighted at the claiming of all three points, and kept time aside to praise his managerial counterpart Niels Frederiksen:
- I believed in us until the end, and we show great enthusiasm, even after we got to 2-2. It creates a good confidence to win that way, and I also think it's totally deserved that we got all three points in this match, although we're not playing our best at the moment. I think it's impressive what Frederiksen has gotten out of the players this autumn.
Reflecting on potential fitness concerns during the match, Solbakken spoke candidly on his side’s physical situation:
- N'Doye has been a little sick this week, Antonsson is struggling with an infection in the knee, and Pospech has a little indigestion. It was important that those who were worn out after the Silkeborg match could get a full week without playing, for it could easily have made things worse if they had played on Wednesday in the Cup.
No new injury news appears to have arisen over the weekend, meaning Solbakken may well have a full-strength squad to choose from in the run-up to their next match, against FC Barcelona in the fourth round of the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. The showdown will be played in front of a capacity crowd at PARKEN on Tuesday, where a win for the Danish champions would see them standing tall atop of Group D with nine points, with only two games remaining.
