Odense won the Cup

17/05 2007 21:12

Copenhagen got off to a fine start and dominated the first quarter, while the rain poured down over the green, but slippery pitch in PARKEN, where 30.000 fans created a great atmosphere in spite of the dreary weather.

After 15 minutes the home fans found more reason to enjoy, when Atiba Hutchinson – playing in front this afternoon – received a superb through-pass from Michael Silberbauer, coolly rounded the keeper and scored from a narrow angle. A beautiful goal, although TV-pictures revealed that it should have been disallowed for offside against the Canadian…

Atiba Hutchinson has rounded the keeper and scores

Copenhagen didn’t take enough advantage of the early lead, and from the 15th to the 30rd minute it was an open ballgame with a lot of running, fighting and tackling between the two penalty areas. Gradually Odense began to dominate, but failed to create open chances. But it wasn’t necessary to equalize… a half-missed shot from the distance from Martin Borre created unexpected difficulties for Jesper Christiansen, whose view perhaps was blocked by friends and foes, and the ball somehow found its way to the back of the net.

Encouraged by the equalizer, Odense maintained their pressure for the rest of the half, while Copenhagen hardly had threatened their defence for the last 15 minutes.

A few minutes into the second half it took a fabulous save from Jesper Christiansen to deny Kim Christensen a goal, when he was completely free in the penalty area. But only minutes later the keeper had to surrender. First he rushed outside the area to clear the ball, but only to Jonas Borring picked it up. A passive FCK-defence allowed him to cross to the completely free Bechara Oliveira, who rather easy could head it home.

Hjalte Nørregaard fires with his left foot

Then the champions realized that they had to fight considerably more than they have been used to during most of the spring season, where they have dominated the league heavily and currently are 14 points clear of Odense in the league table. But no matter what they tried, the team from H.C. Andersen’s home town seemed determined to get a happy end to their Cup fairy-tale.

Fifteen minutes before the end Ståle Solbakken gambled and played with only three defenders in an attempt to turn the game, and shortly after it was very near that it paid off. Jesper Grønkjær found Ailton, who had come on in the middle of the second half, completely free with Odense-keeper Arek Onyszko, but when the Brazilian had rounded the keeper, he finished too weak and a defender reached back and cleared on the goalline.

Copenhagen continued to put Odense under siege towards the end, but Odense was closer to extend their lead than Copenhagen was to level the score. Jesper Christiansen had to pull out another brilliant save, when Martin Borre was played totally free and tested him with a fierce shot from close range.

Ailton Almeida - very close to an equalizer

Odense continued to defend cleverly and heroically, while Copenhagen failed to create open chances, and after 5 minutes of injury time they were rewarded with the final whistle from FIFA-referee Anders Hermansen.

After all a well-deserved victory, while the disappointed Copenhagen-players and fans had to admit, that in spite of a season that beats everything, they have to be content with the silver medals in both Royal League and the Danish cup.

All photos by Carl Redhead and Manni Bach

Matchfacts:
F.C. COPENHAGEN-OB ODENSE 1-2 (1-1)
15.: 1-0 Atiba Hutchinson
36.: 1-1 Martin Borre
49.: 1-2 Bechara Oliveira
Attendance: 30.013

F.C. Copenhagen: Jesper Christiansen –Lars Jacobsen, Michael Gravgaard, Brede Hangeland, Niclas Jensen (74.: William Kvist) – Michael Silberbauer, Tobias Linderoth, Hjalte Nørregaard (67.: Ailton Almeida), Jesper Grønkjær –Atiba Hutchinson, Marcus Allbäck. (Un-used substitutes: Dan Thomassen, Benny Gall)

Booking: Tobias Linderoth