There was payback in the air when FC Helsingør hosted Fremad Amager on Friday. The 5-1 defeat on Amager stung, and it was a highly motivated FCH team that played a superb first half and fought the win home in the second half.
Already in the fifth minute FCH got on the scoresheet. Eljah Just intercepted a ball in midfield and made a central run. On the right he had Sebastian Czajkowski with him, and on the left Jeppe Kjær. “Eli” slipped it out to Czajkowski at exactly the right time, and Czajkowski got into the box. Goalkeeper Nicklas Dannevang came out to close down the angle, but Czajkowski selfishly laid the ball across to a largely unmarked Jeppe Kjær, who did not miss and smashed the ball into the net for his ninth league goal.
1-0 FC Helsingør
FC Helsingør had possession, and Fremad Amager were looking for counterattacks without really becoming dangerous. Instead it was FC Helsingør who got the next big chance. Anders Holst let a hard pass from the defense run through instead of controlling it, and Jeppe Kjær was quick to nick the ball and turn. The clever move caught Fremad Amager’s defense on the wrong foot, and Jeppe Kjær was able to break away toward goal in a one-on-one. Alone with Nicklas Dannevang, however, Kjær unfortunately came off second best in the duel, as Dannevang stayed on his feet long enough to get down to Kjær’s effort with the tips of his fingers.
FCH pressed Fremad Amager intelligently, and the visitors created very little in the first 25 minutes. In the 25 minute they did manage to break FCH’s build-up play and launch a counter, but the final pass out to a Fremad player on the right inside the FCH box was too imprecise, and the finish then went well over the goal.
Three minutes later Anders Holst had moved over to the right side. There he received the ball from Jonas Henriksen, who played it back to Holst again. Holst cut across the box and sent a dangerous effort toward the far corner, but the ball curled just over the angle.
When we reached the half-hour mark, Fremad got their biggest chance to that point. A quick pass up through the middle caught an FCH player on the wrong foot, and Fremad Amager sent the ball across to former FCH player Pierre Larsen, who was very free on the right side of the box. Fortunately, Larsen did not quite get proper contact on the ball, which went past the far post.
Five minutes later Sebastian Czajkowski was close. He received a good ball at his feet and slipped past his man on the right side. Czajkowski beat his marker and moved toward goal. When he got into the box, he struck at goal, but once again Dannevang was in position and saved the shot. Excellent run from Czajkowski, but also a good save by Dannevang.
In the 40th minute FCH were absurdly close again. Philip Rejnhold intercepted a Fremad pass in midfield and found Czajkowski with a through ball. Czajkowski got into the box and played the ball across. But centrally in the box Kjær was marked by two men and could not finish.
Instead it was Fremad Amager who took advantage of FC Helsingør not converting their many chances. Three minutes before the break they won a free kick on the edge of the box out on the right side. Kevin Jansson took it and struck the ball decisively past Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard with a beautifully taken free kick. It was against the run of play and chances, but Fremad Amager’s players were of course quite indifferent to that.
1-1 Fremad Amager
Thus FC Helsingør had to go into the dressing room after a half in which they had been clearly superior and created by far the most chances, but still had to accept that their opponents had made the most of the one chance they were given.
FC Helsingør continued where they left off in the first half, and we were only three minutes into the second half when the first big chance arrived. Jeppe Kjær got a good ball at his feet after FCH had pressed Fremad all the way back. Jeppe dribbled into the box and finished with a clever lob that deceived Dannevang. But again the margins were not with FCH’s attack, and the ball hit the post.
But after five minutes Fremad broke away on a counter. It looked as though Fremad’s striker was clean through, but at the last second Nikolaj Hansen got back and, with a do-or-die tackle, got a foot to the ball from behind so that Kevin Stuhr could come out and claim it.
After 53 minutes Rejnhold had to pull out of a running duel and go off injured. He was replaced by Callum McCowatt, who came on centrally instead of Norouzi, who dropped back to Rejnhold’s left-back position. A pity for otherwise strongly performing Rejnhold.
Five minutes later Anders Holst was close. Nikolaj Hansen played a superb pass forward from his own half to Sebastian Czajkowski, who controlled it well. He laid the ball diagonally back to Anders Holst, who came charging up through the middle. Holst hit the ball first time, and although he managed to keep the shot down, the ball flew just past the outside of the post.
Fremad Amager had come out better in the second half and succeeded a couple of times in breaking forward on counters. The closest in this phase was Pierre Larsen, who after just over an hour got free on a good pass out to the right wing, but sent his shot well wide.
After 66 minutes the coaching staff took the consequences of FCH having struggled to really get a foothold, and brought on Carl Lange, Lucas Haren and Casper Sloth. The latter thus made his debut in the FCH shirt. They replaced Czajkowski, Holst and Eli.
Fremad Amager also made a couple of changes, and the many substitutions created a somewhat messy period in the match, where neither team could really impose themselves. We thus had to wait until the 75th minute before the next chance came, and it was for the visitors. Emmanuel Toku was played free on the right side of the FCH box on a through ball, but his finish went well over the goal.
With ten minutes left of normal time, it was Fremad who applied the pressure. The visitors had a couple of dangerous corners that were only just cleared from the FCH box.
But after 83 minutes FC Helsingør still came close. Nikolaj Hansen played a long ball forward to Jeppe Kjær, who won the duel. He laid the ball into the feet of Callum McCowatt, who cut across the box and sent a dangerously curling ball toward the far corner. But, typical of FCH, it went just narrowly wide.
After 85 minutes Pierre Larsen picked up a yellow card for stopping Jeppe Kjær in a transition, and when he did exactly the same three minutes later, it was an early trip to the showers for the former FCH player as the referee pulled out the yellow card for the second time.
But in the first minute of stoppage time FC Helsingør finally got reward for their hard work. From the left side of the pitch Daniel Norouzi found Lucas Haren, who had slipped centrally. Lucas took one touch into the box and hammered the ball hard and low into the far post. Coolly finished by Lucas Haren, who had a dynamite substitute appearance for the second week in a row.
2-1 FC Helsingør
Fremad Amager tried to apply one last spell of pressure, but were drained of energy, and the FCH players could raise their arms in the air after getting payback for the defeat on Amager.
FC Helsingør’s next task is away to HB Køge, and that is next Friday.
FCH: K. Stuhr Ellegaard, P. Rejnhold (53’ C. McCowatt), H.C. Bonnesen, N. Hansen, J. Henriksen, E. Just (66’ L. Haren), F. Juul Christensen, D. Norouzi, A. Holst (66’ C. Sloth), J. Kjær, S. Czajkowski (66’ C. Lange)
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch
