Top table thrashing
Photo: Sportsagency.dk
First place met second this weekend, as FCK travelled to Herning for their Superliga clash with FC Midtjylland following the Lions’ midweek victory over Viby IF.
by Joe Short
Coach Ståle Solbakken made another sweeping change of his first XI, bringing in Johan Wiland, Oscar Wendt, Zdenek Pospech and Mikael Antonsson at the back, while Jesper Grønkjær and Dame N’Doye headed the attack after both being rested.
Although first versus second would suggest a tight encounter, it was the away side who dominated the earlier spells. Oscar Wendt’s in-swinging corner was punch clear of the goal on 9 minutes, as FCK tallied up the corner count.
Early lead
The opening came just two minutes later however, after neat progressive football through the midfield. N’Doye collected and layed off to Grønkjær, who slipped the ball wide on the right to Pospech. The Czech had no doubts in his mind what to do next, thundering the ball over Jonas Løssl and into the roof of the net to send the Lions one up.
It took a couple of minutes for the game to settle back down again, and Midtjylland began to work their way into the game when a long ball was collected by Jonas Borring, who beat Pospech to the ball to hit a well-timed half volley at goal. Wiland’s left hand was strong however, and danger was quickly averted.
The following ten minutes produced little in goalmouth action, mainly due to neither side’s apparent intent to attack in numbers. Midtjylland’s Sylvester Igboun forced Wiland to dash out of his box and clear in a hurry as the striker bore down upon him, while at the other end Martin Vingaard’s volley on goal was blocked before it could threaten.
Chances rain in
Just after the half hour mark Copenhagen had possibly their best opportunity of the game, when Grønkjær worked his way free in the box. His pass across the six-yard box was met by Chrisitan Bolaños, but the Brazilian made minimal contact with the ball, which dribbled onto the base of the post and was eventually cleared.
Three minutes later and it was N’Doye’s turn to be denied, this time by Løssl. The Senegalese striker did well to turn his defender to give himself a one-on-one chance, but the resulting shot was saved well by the goalkeeper. Copenhagen doubled their lead soon after, however, thanks to some good build-up play on the right wing. Pospech eventually found time and space to pull a pass back to the edge of the area for Claudemir, whose deflected shot wrong-footed Løssl to nestle in the back of the net.
By this point Copenhagen had a firm grip on the game, dominating the majority of possession and flow. Indeed, they almost added a third two minutes into first half stoppage time, when N’Doye headed an effort on goal reminiscent of his winner against Rubin Kazan two weeks ago. Vingaard was the deliverer of the free kick, punting the ball to the back post where N’Doye was in place the head across goal. His effort this time was saved however.
Igboun had two half-chances immediately from kick off to the second half, but it was generally FCK who kept the possession. However, it took almost a quarter of an hour for the away side to generate anything worthwhile from their dominance, Vingaard shooting over the bar from distance on 59 minutes.
Midtjylland close to halving the deficit
Ten minutes later and Midtjylland had their best chance of the game, when Igboun – having wriggled himself free in the box – played a beautiful ball through to the lurking Frank Kristensen on the far post. Kristensen couldn’t stretch far enough to make contact however: the whole of the goal open at his feet.
From the resulting dead ball, Copenhagen regained and maintained possession until they got their illusive third goal, effectively sealing the game. Bolaños cut back from the right wing to deliver a scintillating cross with his left, which was met by the unmarked N’Doye in the centre of the box. His low header was precise, neatly beating Løssl, and the striker wasted no time in running to celebrate with the travelling Lions fans behind the goal.
After the goal Solbakken made an unusual triple substitution, bringing on Hjalte Nørregaard, Thomas Kristiansen and Cesar Santin, but the game petered out without much controversy.
The 3-0 victory keeps Copenhagen firmly at the top of the Superliga, now seven points ahead of FC Midtjylland. However, once again focus must turn elsewhere for the Lions, as Solbakken will now prepare his team to face the Greek side Panathinaikos in Athens in midweek.
