Fight and determination
Fight and determination turned the game around for the F.C. Copenhagen side and secured a place in the group stage of the UEFA Cup.
It looked like déja vu when Lens put themselves in front on their very first opportunity after just fifteen minutes but the Danish champions proved their guts and refused to give up. With F.C. Copenhagen dominating for most of the game, Allbäck equalized fifteen minutes before full time. Early into extra time Gravgaard was sent off and the home side endured a long siege before Sionko was brought down inside the box. Grønkjær skillfully converted the penalty thus booking a place in Tuesday’s draw for the group stage.
Translated by Lars Kristensen
”OUR TEAM”
As the players entered the stadium in the pouring rain they were greeted by a huge tifo covering the entire C stand and spelling out ”OUR TEAM”. For the team, The F.C.Copenhagen coach, Ståle Solbakken, opted for his ”European” formation placing Grønkjær as a deep-lying forward behind centre forward Allbäck. The recent form of Czech international Sionko secured him the spot on right midfield while Silberbauer and Nørregaard made up the centre midfield. Lens, on their part, had three new players in the starting eleven and, surprisingly, the apt striker Dindane began the game on the bench.
Déja Vu
Four corner kicks in the opening ten minutes testifies to the fact that F.C.Copenhagen began by dominating the game. At their first opportunity, however, Lens went one up after just 14 minutes when, after a quick counter-attack that first had Christiansen block a nice effort by Pieroni, the riposte went to Eric Carrière for an easy header.
Fortunately, ”our team” quickly shook off the early set-back and should have levelled the score just five minutes later. The Lens goalie, Runje, half-cleared a shot by Sionko and the ball went to Nørregaard who, instead of scoring in an open goal, managed to put it over the cross-bar from one meter away!
Putting on pressure
After that, chances were scarce up until the closing section of the first half when Allbäck served up an open chance for Hutchinson and Grønkjær.
F.C. Copenhagen began the second half by asserting more pressure on Lens who seemed to have their minds set on just defending the lead. At this stage in particular, it was the figthing spirit of an inspired Grønkjær who showed the way for the home side but Sionko also began to attract attention as he twice shook off his defenders to test the Lens goalkeeper.
Another huge chance
To keep the momentum going, coach Ståle Solbakken sent Nordstrand on the pitch at the 60 minute mark as a second striker while Hutchinson took over for Nørregaard in midfield and Grønkjær was pulled back to cover for Hutchinson in left midfield. Five minutes later this almost paid off as Christiansen launched a counter-attack with a precise throw to Nordstrand who passed it on to Grønkjær giving him a clear shot a the goal. Unfortunately, Grønkjær chose instead to pass it back in between Allbäck and Nordstrand, squandering the opportunity.
Still, Grønkjær kept it up on the left side of the pitch by effortlessly sending one ball after another into the penalty area never giving his opposing defender Demont a moments rest.
Mr. Europe does it again
Twenty minutes before full time Würtz came on for Silberbauer in midfield just as Lens sent on the dreaded Arune Dindane who had scored for Lens in the first leg. However, it was the other goal scorer from that game, F.C. Copenhagen’s ”Mr. Europe” - Marcus Allbäck - who were to repeat the feat. With fifteen minutes to go, Grønkjær headed a free kick back to Allbäck who put in his fourth goal in six European matches so far.
Lens immediately woke up, pushed the team forward, and at the end of regulation time Dindane had the home crowd gasping for air on several occasions but the F.C.Copenhagen team withstood the pressure and the game was set for extra time.
The F.C. Copenhagen captain is sent off
Right at the beginning of extra-time Lens looked about to seal the deal but, instead, the header from Bisevac hit the post and Lacout made a further mess of the return thus keeping F.C. Copenhagen in the game. Moments later, however, things deteriorated when Gravgaard was sent off after a late tackle on Dindane who, had he not been stopped, would have had a clear run for goal.
As a result, Ståle Solbakken chose to show confidence in 17-year-old defender Matthias Zanka Jørgensen who came on for Allbäck. Zanka seized that opportunity by immediately exhibiting both great skill and determination in a bone breaking tackle on Dindane and he continued to play well througout the game.
With a one-man-advantage, Lens quickly took over the run of play and for a long time F.C. Copenhagen was hard pressed to make it to penalties. Luckily, whenever he was needed goalkeeper Christiansen was up to the task and then, suddenly, in the middle of the second half of extra time, Sionko went on the counter-attack and was brought down in the penalty area by a light push from Aubey. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and Grønkjær put the ball in the back of the net with great cool.
Lens is held back
After that, Lens pushed everyone forward but, by now, they had run out of ideas and middle defenders Zanka and Hangeland had no trouble clearing away one high ball after another. In between, both Sionko and Nordstrand were each given a run for goal but neither managed to convert and in the end that did not matter much either when, after added stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle for the last time resulting in a 3-2 aggregate win for F.C. Copenhagen.
Despite a quick opening goal for the away team and having a man sent off at the very start of extra time, the F.C. Copenhagen side never gave up and because of that determination they have now booked themselves a well-deserved place in the group stage of the UEFA Cup.
Coach Ståle Solbakken:
- Clearly we were the better side and we ought to have scored more than one goal in regulation time. The sending-off of Gravgaard changed everything around, however, and at that point, I would have been happy just to make it to a penalty shoot-out.
Lens coach Papin:
- We played well and it was a tough way to go out. I did not see the penalty foul myself but as I understand it it wasn’t a clear penalty. We continuously failed to produce the goods, however, and in the end, this just wasn’t our day.
Jesper Grønkjær – scorer of the game-winning goal:
- Three out of five progresses from the group so naturally our new goal should be to qualify for the knock-out stages but to really assess our chances we must wait for the draw.
