November 26, 28 & 29, 2021
Friday November 26, 2021
Aarhus GF 1-1 Silkeborg IF ( att : 9,083 )
Sunday November 28, 2021
Odense BK 2-0 FC
Nordsjaelland ( att : 5,258 )
Viborg FF 1-1 SonderjyskE ( att : 4,031 )
Brondby IF 1-0 Randers FC ( att : 15,437 )
Aalborg BK 1-3 FC Kobenhavn ( att : 10,254 )
Monday November 29, 2021
Vejle BK 1-1 FC Midtylland ( att : 4,012 )
With the completion of round 17’s fixtures, Denmark’s Superliga
became the first of the European leagues to enter its winter break, with
matches scheduled to resume on February 20, 2022.
Since late October, Superliga matches have been live streamed with
commentary on Onefootball.com, in addition to the live streams available on
Bet365.com. The league website, www.superliga.dk also has
highlights of every match, and has an unimaginable wealth of statistics on the
league, to the extent of VAR decisions per team, the percentage number of
backward passes, and even the number of aerial duels won !
On a 2 month work assignment in Copenhagen in 1994, I took the
opportunity to attend 4 football matches in Denmark. The first was a UEFA Cup Winners Cup tie
between Brondby IF and Albanian side KF Tirana, where the home side won 3-0 in
front of a crowd of 6.035. In the Brondby side that night were future West Ham
and Celtic defender Marc Rieper, future Portsmouth and Walsall forward Thomas
Thogersen, Bolton forward Bo Hansen, and former Borussia Dortmund striker Mark
Strudal. Every one of the Brondby starting XI that night eventually went on to
win caps for Denmark. Of the Tirana side only Indruit Fortuzi had a career of
any note outside of Albania, having spells in Greece with Apollon and Iraklis.
The match ticket cost 80 DKK, which is around £9 at today’s exchange rates.
My only real memories of the match are that it rained all evening
with the game resembling a game of water polo at times, and on arriving fairly
early, I had a look around the back of the stadium where there was a very nice
cricket ground. However, Google maps now show that this has obliterated by the
extension of one of the stands and the installation of some football training
pitches, and I’ve read that a new purpose-built cricket ground has been built
elsewhere in Brondby for Svanholm CC.
I was also able to attend a UEFA Cup tie at the Parken stadium
where a crowd of 4,232 turned up to witness a 1-1 draw between FC Copenhagen (
FCK as they are more commonly referred to ) and Slovan Bratislava, which saw
the home side eliminated having lost 0-1 in Slovakia in the first leg. Despite
dominating the match they were unable to convert the chances they created. From
that FCK side, striker Per Frandsen went on to play for Bolton, Blackburn and
Wigan, midfielder Allan Nielsen later played for Tottenham, Wolves and Watford,
and defender Cristian Lonstrup went on to play for Cagliari in Serie A.
Despite being late September, it was a freezing cold evening and I
had persuaded three colleagues from work to come and watch. Fortunately, we
were able to get regular cold beers inside the stadium to compensate for the
weather. The handful of Slovan fans were not bothered by the Arctic conditions,
and proudly supported their team without wearing any shirts !
My first domestic match was at Lyngby were 2,462 watched the home
side go down 2-3 to Fremad Amager. Faroe Islands international Todi Jonssen
came off the bench to grab a goal back for Lyngby after the visitors had lead 3-0
with just 10 minutes remaining. The Lyngby line-up also included Per Pedersen,
who went on to play for Blackburn Rovers, Borussia Moenchengladbach and
Strasburg, Anders Nielsen who played for PSV Eindhoven and Sparta Rotterdam,
and Aston Villa signing Henrik Larsen ( although he never actually played a
match for Villa ), who scored three goals in Euro 92.
My final match in Denmark was in November 1994 with a drive to the
coastal town of Naestved to see the home side lose 2-3 to Brondby in front of a
crowd of 5,949. From the side that had played against KF Tirana, Brondby had
been strengthened by the inclusion of future Fenerbache and Chelsea defender
Jens Hogh, Kim Vilfort, the Danish international and goalscorer in the Euro 92
final against Germany, and future Rangers, Celta Vigo and Alaves centre-back
Dan Eggen. Brondby took a 3-0 lead into the break but were rocking at 2-3 until
a red card reduced Naestved to 10 men with around 20 minutes to play, after
which they then comfortably held onto to the three points.
However, my outstanding memory of the day was watching the second
half of the Youth team games between the two clubs on an outside pitch before
the league match, in which the Brondby side looked collectively so much
stronger, but Naestved had a centre-back who was the outstanding player on the
pitch and on several occasions strode the length of the pitch to create chances
for his side, leading to two goals. However, he was unable to stop his team
also falling to a 2-3 defeat. I never found out his name, nor what became of
him.
The Season So Far
The Superliga is a 12 team competition who play each other twice
for a 22 game regular season. After this, the top 6 teams split into
Championship play-off for 10 more matches, carrying forward the points earned
from the regular season. The other 6 form the relegation play-off group, with
the bottom two sides being relegated. The highest placed side in the relegation
play-off table has a chance of qualifying for the Europa Conference via a
play-off.
Brondby were the 2020/21 Champions, finishing 1 point ahead of FC
Midtjylland. FC Copenhagen qualified for the Europa Conference by finishing
third, Randers qualified for the Europa League by winning the Danish Cup and
AGF Aarhus qualified for the Europa League after winning the play-off against
relegation group winners Aalborg on penalties. Viborg and Silkeborg were
promoted, replacing Lyngby and Horsens.
After round 16, FC Midtjylland lead the table by 4 points ahead of
FC Copenhagen, despite having lost their last two matches ( 0-3 at Aarhus and
1-2 at home to Brondby ). FCK were unable to make much inroads as they had been
held to two draws ( 0-0 at Silkeborg and 1-1 Aarhus ). Randers had been the
early season pace-setters, going unbeaten through their first 6 games but after
a mini-slump, a run of just one defeat in 6 games had seen them maintain 4th
position behind Aalborg on goal difference. The form team at the moment though
are champions Brondby, who languished in 10th place after round 9,
but a run of 19 points out of 21, including 5 wins in the last 5 saw them climb
upto 5th place. One place below them were Silkeborg, themselves also
on an unbeaten run of 7 matches, but with 4 draws in the last 5.
At the bottom, Vejle and SonderjyskE have been cut adrift, lying 8
and 7 points respectively behind 10th place Nordsjaelland, although
Vejle have shown some signs of life having won their last two home matches, to
at least close the gap with SonderjyskE, who have taken just a single point in
their last 7 matches.
The top scorer in the Superliga after 16 matches was Brondby’s
Mikael Uhre with 10 goals, ahead of Brazilian Junior Brumad of Midtjylland,
Spanish midfielder Pep Biel of FCK and winger Nicolai Vallys of Silkeborg, all
of whom were on 7 goals
FCK have been the best supported team so far this season, with an
average attendance of 21,057, followed by Brondby with an average of 16,604.
Aarhus are next with 11,318 whilst FC Nordsjaelland had the lowest average of
3,670.
Round 17
The Friday night game
of the weekend saw 6th placed Silkeborg, unbeaten in their
last 5 away matches and with 10 goals in the last two, visit 7th
placed Aarhus, who had won their last 4 home matches. Unfortunately, Aarhus
do not play in the middle of our street but home is instead the impressive 19,433
capacity Ceres Park in Denmark’s second city.
The home side started
strongly and had a strong appeal for a penalty after only 2 minutes when midfielder
Albert Gronbaek fell to the ground after an attempted tackle by Nicklas Helenius.
After a lengthy VAR review an offside was spotted earlier in the move, so negating
the need for any decision as to whether or not a foul had been committed !
AGF were aggressive
from the start and won nearly all of the 50/50 challenges in the early stages, and
this positive approach led to them taking the lead in the 16th
minute.
Iceland midfielder
Stefan Thordarson was caught in possession by Gronbaek as Silkeborg tried to
play out from the back, and an immediate pass fed Mustapha Bundu to cut inside Calisir
and smartly finish left-footed from just inside the area. The Sierra Leone international
started his career at The Craig Bellamy Academy followed by a spell at Hereford
United where he was part of the side that won the FA Vase. His form at Hereford
led to a successful trial with AGF, from where he was signed by Anderlecht. With
opportunities limited at Anderlecht, he is now back at AGF on a season long
loan.
Silkeborg gradually
got a foothold into the match and their first decent chance arrived in the 24th
minute when from cross by Rasmus Carstensen on the right wing, the unmarked Helenius
took time to place his header, but the ex-Aston Villa man placed it wide of the
post from 8 yards.
The match then became
end to end with both sides having near misses. For Silkeborg, a dangerous cross
from the left just evaded Thordarson, and Jorgensen saw a shot blocked by defender
Tingager. For AGF, Anderson sent a dangerous cross from the by-line across face
of goal, and after Kahl played a 1:2 with Gronbaek, his pull-back was blazed
over the bar by Mortensen.
However, Silkeborg finished
the half on top. Jorgensen and Carstensen combined down the right and a driven
low cross from by-line from Carstensen was parried by AGF keeper Hansen, and Jorgensen’s
subsequent shot was also saved.
In first-half stoppage
time Helenius’ shot from 12 yards was blocked by Hansen and looped up for the
on-rushing Vallys to head goal-wards from close range, but he was denied by a
remarkable follow-up save by Hansen, who was able to react and push the header
onto the underside of the bar and for Tingager to hoof to safety. Silkeborg
deserved to go into the interval on level terms, and 21 year old wing-back Rasmus
Carstensen increasingly caught the eye, but AGF went to the dressing rooms with
the one goal lead.
The pattern of the
second half was quickly established as heavy rain began to fall, Silkeborg
having the majority of possession but the home side looking dangerous on the
counter, especially when Bundu was involved. On the hour mark, the Sierra Leone
forward was able to run onto his own pass and then cross to Gronbaek, but the
shot went over the bar. Five minutes later Gronbaek released Bundu to run clear
on goal but he unselfishly played the ball across the goal where centre-back
Brink made a sliding interception, the ball struck his keeper before falling to
Mortensen. Unfortunately for AGF, their striker’s snap-shot from 8 yard struck
the base of the post.
Silkeborg responded
immediately with Vallys sweeping a low corner at the near post for Hansen to
block with a leg, but the equalizer finally arrived in the 70th
minute. Carstensen start the move on the right touch-line and after a couple of
first time passes, Helenius chipped forward for Carstensen to control on his
chest, take a touch and fire underneath Hansen from just inside the area.
AGF Belgian defender
D’Alberto then nearly scored a superb own goal in the 78th minute
but his header went just wide with Hansen beaten.
As the clock ticked
down AGF had two good chance to take the three points. First Bundu and Poulsen
combined to put substitute Kurminowski clear but the Polish substitute could
only chip weakly straight to the Silkeborg keeper. A minute later, Links volleyed
a shot-cum-cross from the left which was heading into the top corner before
being athletically clawed away by keeper Larsen.
In the last minute,
Vallys was put clear, but Silkeborg’s top scorer was unable to make a clean
connection and his left footed shot was easily saved, and in added on time
Rojkjaer cut in from the left but his curling shot drifted just wide of the
upright.
Overall, a draw was
probably a fair result from an entertaining game, as despite Silkeborg have 65%
of the possession, both sides created an equal number of decent chances.
The two Sunday
afternoon fixtures saw newly promoted 8th placed Viborg have an
opportunity to move further away from any potential relegation struggle with a
victory at home to SonderjyskE and the
winner of the tie between Odense BK and FC Nordsjaelland having an
opportunity to make a big stride away from danger in a battle between 9th
and 10th.
Viborg got off to an ideal start with just under 10
minutes on the clock when 19 year old Tobias Bech skipped past an ineffectual
challenge from Albaek and drilled a left-footed shot inside the near post from
18 yards. However, the game turned 15 minutes later, when after a lengthy VAR
review Viborg’s Dutch centre-back Lars Kramer was shown a red card for pulling
back Cameroonian striker Moumbanga. The only surprise was that the original
decision was only a yellow card and it took so long to review and upgrade to a
red card, so obvious was it that there were no covering defenders to mitigate
the offence.
VAR was soon involved again. From a corner, Viborg keeper Mikkel
Andersen, formally of Reading, Brighton, Bristol Rovers and Portsmouth, could
only weakly parry Soren Reese’s header from close to the penalty spot, and SonderjyskeE
defender Marc del Hende tapped the ball into the empty net from about a foot
out. He looked well off-side and the referee awarded the free-kick. However, after a delay off over 2 minutes the
goal was eventually awarded with a Viborg defender’s shoelaces presumably
playing del Hende on-side !
Despite having 60% of the possession, SonderjyskE were unable take
advantage of the extra man, and Viborg held on pretty comfortable for the draw.
FC Nordsjaelland ( FCN ), one of the many fusion clubs in
Denmark and based in the town of Farum, which is around 40km north of
Copenhagen, started strongly with young Ivorian winger Simon Adingra looking lively,
forcing a smart save from OB keeper Bernat and then crossing for Finnish
striker Antman to flick wide from a good position. Bernat then also saved well
from Andersen’s long-range effort.
Odense BK, located on the island of Funen and in the
third largest city in Denmark, took the lead against the run of play in the 19th
minute. Tunisian forward Issam Jebali burst
between Thychosen and Hansen after a pass from Frokjaer to shot home from 16
yards past the motionless keeper. They nearly doubled the lead 10 minutes later
when USA midfielder Emmanuel Sabbi played a cute ball through a huge gap in the
middle of the FCN defence to Bashrim Kadrii, but his shot was well blocked by
the FCN keeper.
Nordsjaelland had most of the possession in the second half, and
59% overall, but they were unable to create any clear-cut chances. Antman did
have a low drive well saved but with less than a minute of regular time left to
play, Jebali played a nice flick over the flat back line for Max Fenger to
collect and coolly finish to settle the match at 2-0.
The late afternoon game saw 5th placed Brondby
host 4th placed Randers FC, and Brondby continued their
impressive run with a 6th consecutive win with a 1-0 victory thanks
to Mikael Uhre’s 11th strike of the season in the 26th
minute. As a result, Brondby moved up into third.
The goal came when Randers Norwegian midfielder Lasse Berg
Johansen was caught in possession in midfield, and after Croatian forward Marko
Divkovic’s 20 yard effort rebounded off the post, Uhre clinically finished to
give Brondby the lead. Randers best response was Erik Marxen’s header from a
corner with slammed against the top of the bar and over.
Brondby had a couple of decent chances to extend their led early
in the second half, but Maxso saw his header hit his own player, and then in
the 57th minute Slimane saw his instinctive volley blocked at close
range after Frendrup’s shot had been parried.
With time running out Randers staged a grandstand finish. Eight
minutes from the end Odey had his shot well saved at the near post, and in the
8th minute of added on time, Kehinde’s snap shot from 15 yards resulted
in an outstanding save from Brondby keeper Hermansen.
The Sunday evening match saw 3rd placed Aalborg
host 2nd placed FC Copenhagen and the visitors registered a
3-1 victory to keep the pressure on leaders FC Midtjylland. Despite this, the
main talking points was the performance of 16 year old Roony Bardghji. In just
his second match for FCK, only two weeks past his 16th birthday, and
sounding like something England’s record goalscorer might order in an Indian
restaurant, Kuwaiti born Under 17 Swedish international Roony became reportedly
the youngster ever goalscorer in the history of the Superliga, and his performance
sent some parts of social media in raptures about his footwork, and his mazy running
drew comparisons to a slalom skier !
FCK took the lead in the 15th minute when Lukas Lerager,
formerly of Genoa, Bordeaux and Zulte Waregem, rose above his marker to head a
cross from the right wing. The header wasn’t particularly powerful, but it had enough
on it to evade the dive of AaB keeper Jacob Rinne, who really ought to have
done better, and the ball ended up inside the post. FCK’s lead only lasted a
minute before another piece of suspect goal-keeping handed the home side the
equaliser. Kusk was played in down the left channel but his cross should have
nestled in the bread basket of keeper Grabara. Unfortunately for the ex-Huddersfield
Polish custodian, the ball spilt from his grasp and Louka Prip reacted the
quickest to scramble the ball over the line.
Roony then got in the act in the 30th minute, picking
up a return pass and running at the retreating defence before unleashing a left-footed
shot from over 25 yards, which bounced over the outstretched arm of the diving
Rinne, and into the bottom corner.
FCK extended their lead 10 minutes later when a low cross from the
right by Ankersen found 18 year old William Boving alone on the 6 yard line for
a simple finish. At the first glance he looked offside and the TV replay seemed
to confirm this, but the goal stood !
FCK nearly extended their lead even further early in the second
half, but this time Rinne was able to make a strong block to a shot from Roony
and then AaB keeper made another decent save after Roony had put Boving in
space. AaB’s only response was a long range effort from Prip that Grabara
tipped over the bar for a corner.
The 2021 league schedule finished with the Monday night match-up
between bottom of the table Vejle at home to league leaders FC
Midtjylland. The Vejle starting line-up included defender Jerome Opoku, on a
season long loan from Fulham, having spent previously loans at Plymouth and
Accrington Stanley. The Midtjylland side included keeper Jonas Lossl, who was
at Huddersfield during their two recent seasons in the Premiership, but top
scorer Junior Brumado was suspended.
Vejle started brightly, and after just three minutes Albanian
winger Arbnor Mucolli skinned left back Juninho but saw his shot deflected
narrowly wide. Mucolli and Molgaard looked dangerous down the right side as
Vejle passed nicely and looked to move the ball quickly.
The visitors gradually got into the game, cheered on by a sizeable
contingent who had made the 75 km journey from Herning, and half-chances started
to rapidly arrive. Isaksen headed over when well placed, Cools volleyed straight
at the Vejle keeper Grytebust after some good chest control, Isaksen sent a 25
yard left-footed shot which was well save at this near post by Grytebust, Sisto
shot over and, Lind badly mis-kicked inside the 6 yard area enabling a grateful
Grytebust to get a hand to the ball for Kolinger to hack clear. It felt like a
goal was coming and just before the interval, Evander saw his curling shot from
out wide on the left pushed behind for a corner and then Lind shot wide. It
somehow stayed 0-0.
Eight minutes into the second half it was Midtjylland’s turn for a
slice of good fortune, when Molgaard’s header struck the arm of Paulinho, whose
arm clearly moved to change the direction of the ball, but somehow VAR did not
intervene to award the penalty.
Three minutes later the visitors took the lead. Grytebust lost his
bearings at a corner from Evander, and at the back post ex-Celtic defender Erik
Sviatchenko escaped the clutches of Vejle centre-back Manjrekar James to head
home from a couple of yards.
Vejle were unable to respond and Midtjylland looked to be easing
to the three points, and nearly scored again when an incisive pass from Evander
gave Lind the chance to get a shot away, but Grytebust made another fine save
low down at this near post, and two minutes into added on time the Vejle keeper
made another good diving save to keep out Evander’s header.
These saves proved to be vital, as with the clock into the 4th
minute of 5 added on time, Faroe Islands midfielder Hallur Hansson launched a great
cross into the Midtjylland area, and substitute Djordjevic headed back across goal
for the unexpected equaliser !
Danish Sides in Europe
Champions Brondby
have had a miserable European campaign. Eliminated from the Champions League at
the first hurdle by Red Bull Salzburg after losing both legs, 1-2, they are yet
to win in their Europa League group with just home draws with Rangers ( 1-1 )
and Sparta Prague ( 0-0 ), with two defeats to Lyon ( 1-3 and 0-3 ) and a loss
in Glasgow ( 0-2 ). They need to win their final match in Prague to drop into
the Europa Conference and continue playing in Europe.
Runners-up FC
Midtjylland entered the Second Qualifying Round of the Champions League,
and knocked out Glasgow Celtic with a 2-1 home win in extra time, after a 1-1
draw in Scotland. PSV Eindhoven were too strong in the next round though,
winning comfortably 4-0 on aggregate. Although currently in third position in
their Europa League group, a victory in their last game at winless Ludogorets
in Bulgaria will see them qualify for the knock-out stages, but they are
guaranteed at least a place in the Europa Conference regardless of the result.
They started the group slowly, with a 1-1 draw at home to Ludogorets and then
lost 1-3 at Sporting Braga. At 1-1 home draw with Crvena Zvezda ( Red Star
Belgrade ) followed before a 1-0 win in Serbia got their campaign back on the
rails. An injury time winner in a 3-2 home win over Braga this week maintained
their hopes.
Third placed FC
Copenhagen have had an impressive Europa Conference season having already
won their group to progress to the knock-out phases in the spring with a game
to spare. Their run to the group stages resulted in straight-forward wins over
Torpedo Zhodino of Belarus ( 9-1 on aggregate ), Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( 5-3 ) and
Turkish side Sivasspor ( 7-1 ). Although they suffered a 1-2 home reverse to
PAOK Salonika, they avenged this with a 2-1 triumph in Greece. Expected
victories were chalked up over Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar ( 3-1 and 4-0 ),
and they started the group with a 3-1 win at Slovan Bratislava, with the return
fixture to come.
FC Randers enter the Europa League play-off round but were
eliminated by Galatasaray 2-3 on aggregate. They are unbeaten in their Europa
Conference group but just one win, a 2-1 win over Romanian’s CFR Cluj, means
they need a win in their last game at AZ Alkmaar to ensure qualification to the
knock-rounds. Failing that, they would need to match the result of Jablonec in
their final game.
In contrast to the
successes of the other Danish sides in Europe, Aarhus fell at the first
attempt in the Europa Conference, unexpectedly being eliminated 2-3 on
aggregate by Larne from Northern Ireland.
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