N'Doye strike hands Copenhagen title

21/04 2011 18:16

Hundreds of FCK fans descended on Lyngby Stadion, hopeful of witnessing their Lions side clinch a third league title in succession. With eight games of the season still remaining, second-placed OB were playing catch up before the day started. However, after suffering a 2-1 defeat to FC Nordsjælland just minutes before the kick off in Lyngby, the Copenhagen faithful could celebrate as champions before a ball had even been kicked.

by Joe Short

Head coach Ståle Solbakken made three changes from his squad following their 3-1 win in Nordsjælland at the weekend. Mathias Zanka came back into the centre of defence, replacing Jos Hooiveld. Pierre Bengtsson was awarded a place at left back instead of Oscar Wendt, while Kenneth Zohore moved to the bench for William Kvist.

After a slow start, Copenhagen almost gifted their opponents the lead when Zanka hooked a ball clear only for it to rebound off Mikael Antonsson. The ball span past Johan Wiland in goal but luckily fell the wrong side of the post and out for a corner. But FCK weren’t so fortunate on eight minutes, when Peter Madsen headed in a Uffe Bech chip to put the home side 1-0 up.

Copenhagen responded with an Antonsson header that was cleared off the line, but for all their pressure the away side could not get a real effort in on goal. The resilient Lyngby defence eventually gave way in emphatic style in the 25th minute when Bolaños patiently found space for himself outside the Lyngby box and fired left footed low past Rune Pedersen to cancel out the Madsen’s early goal.

N’Doye squanders gift

Eight minutes after the goal Dame N’Doye struck directly into Pedersen’s chest, while Zanka headed wide at a tight angle from a corner. N’Doye created his own chance on 36 minutes after controlling a high ball on his chest, skipping past his marker and shooting low. However, his effort fell far from its intended target much to the striker’s dismay.

The second half began with Claudemir attempting to recreate his goal on Sunday when he crept into the box but his header fell wide of the mark this time. Bolaños himself then had a shot well saved, as FCK began to take complete control of possession. Solbakken made a double substitution, bringing Zohore and Wendt into the game. Zohore almost made an immediate impact but his final shot blazed wide after a positive run forward.

The Lions were only prevented from going ahead due to some quick thinking from Brian Hamalainen. Grønkjær chipped up to N’Doye for one of his trademark powerful headers. However, with the goalkeeper beaten, Hamalainen leapt to the rescue and got his head in the way of the ball, deflecting it over the crossbar.

On 81 minutes Claudemir blazed a golden opportunity over after persistent work down the right wing by Pospech and, as the clock ticked down, it looked as though the points would be shared in Lyngby Stadion. However, five minutes later further Pospech determination finally produced the winning goal. The Czech got to the byline and cut the ball back to N’Doye who, on the turn, struck home to guarantee all three points for the Lions and prove they did not need the good fortune of OB losing to retain the Danish Superliga.

LYNGBY BK: 1 FC COPENHAGEN: 2

Lyngby BK: Pedersen, Hamalainen, Tauber, Bresemann, Sarr, Hansen, Bech, Larsen, Bertolt (C), Aabech, Madsen.

FC Copenhagen: Wiland, Wendt, Zanka, Antonsson, Bengtsson, Claudemir, Kristensen, Kvist (C), Bolaños, Grønkjær, N'Doye.

Goals: Madsen, Lyngby BK (8’), Bolaños (25’), N’Doye (86’).

Referee: Michael Svendsen.