FC Helsingør secured another win against HB Køge when they visited southern Zealand on Wednesday evening, but in the end they had to work hard as Morten Eskesen’s selected side failed to close out the match despite the many chances they created. The win, however, was never in doubt. It was thoroughly deserved.
FCH dominance and a missed penalty in the first half
It was FC Helsingør who started the match best. The pressure was applied high up the pitch on HB Køge’s defense, but it was difficult to find a way through the lines. And yet it was HB Køge who got the first shot of the match after six minutes, when former FCH player Pierre Larsen sent a rebound from the FCH defense toward the near post from a position on the edge of the box. Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard in goal was alert, however, and managed to push the ball away from goal.
But it was still FC Helsingør who pressed for most of the time. HB Køge had their hands full defending, and in particular an inspired Callum McCowatt produced several good crosses and free kicks in the opening quarter of an hour, without truly threatening the HB Køge goal.
But just after the quarter-hour mark, FC Helsingør almost outwitted the HB Køge defense. A free kick just outside the box was cleared a couple of times and eventually fell to Daniel Norouzi, who delivered a sharp cross into the area where Nikolaj Hansen was left completely free. The FCH captain headed toward goal with no chance for Oscar Snorre in the HB Køge goal, but his fine header hit the crossbar and bounced back into play, where Hansen shot again. But over the goal. Huge chance.
Three minutes later HB Køge’s Effiong Nsungusi found his teammate Emilio Jørgensen with a fine through ball in the middle just outside the FCH box. Jørgensen unleashed a dangerous long-range effort at goal, but Kevin Stuhr had read the attempt and denied it with an acrobatic save.
After 22 minutes, Tonni Adamsen dribbled all the way up from the halfway line with Assinki on his back, and eventually Adamsen managed to slide a pass across to Liam Jordan, who, however, had to see Snorre get to the ball first.
But two minutes later it was no longer working for HB Køge and Oscar Snorre. Frederik Bay delivered a low cross from the left side to Eli Just, who played a lightning-fast one-two with Callum McCowatt, and centrally in front of goal Eli Just sent a powerful shot at Snorre, who was caught on the wrong foot. Snorre got a hand to the ball, but could not turn it away from goal, and Eli Just could note his third goal in four matches.
0-1 FC Helsingør
Just as the clock reached 30 minutes, Liam Jordan was very close to extending the lead. Eli Just played the ball across to Callum McCowatt, who was centrally placed right on the edge of the box. In the same movement McCowatt slipped the ball on to Liam Jordan on the left side of the area, where he was completely free. Jordan, however, slightly miscontrolled his first touch, and Oscar Snorre was able to come out and block Liam Jordan’s attempt.
Seven minutes later FC Helsingør then had one of the biggest chances of the match. Tonni Adamsen and McCowatt played their way through the HB Køge defense with a couple of neat dribbles, and Sebastian Larsen committed a clumsy penalty on Tonni Adamsen. Liam Jordan stepped up to take it, but Snorre read Jordan’s otherwise fine effort and saved it all the way down by the right post.
Two minutes before the break, Nsungusi beat Kasper Enghardt’s tackle in the middle and went through one-on-one with Kevin Stuhr. Nikolaj Hansen came racing across, and perhaps that made Nsungusi rush his finish. The HB Køge player at any rate sent the ball well over the goal with a poor attempt.
Thus FCH could go into halftime with a narrow 1-0 lead, one that both could and should have been one or two goals larger.
A slightly too imprecise FCH team made the 2. half exciting
HB Køge came out better for the second half and had a couple of half chances in the first five minutes, where they generally linked up play much better than at the start of the first half. But FC Helsingør defended well and looked for counterattacking opportunities.
The teams did, however, tactically cancel each other out a bit, and the lack of clear chances prompted both sides to make changes. After 57 minutes FCH brought on Nicklas Mouritsen and Oliver Kjærgaard in place of Frederik Bay and Liam Jordan.
After 62 minutes came the first big chance for FCH. And it was precisely Mouritsen and Kjærgaard who broke away on a counterattack. Mouritsen beat his man on the left side and curled a ball in toward the center, where Kjærgaard was centimeters away from reaching it centrally, but he could not quite get to the ball in front of his marker.
FC Helsingør got a little more dynamism into their play as the half progressed, and Kjærgaard came close to another shot shortly after, though it was sent well over the goal.
After 68 minutes Norouzi won the ball centrally and found Frederik Juul out on the left side of the box. HB Køge’s defense read the situation completely wrong, and Frederik Juul was very alone by the byline. Juul played the ball diagonally back into the area where Tonni Adamsen had arrived, but the pass was just behind Adamsen, who could not turn it in. And a minute later, substitute Oliver Drost was close when Philip Rejnhold drove toward the byline and rolled the ball low into the area. Drost tried to finish first time, but got under the ball and sent the shot well over the goal from a free position. Big chances for FCH in this phase.
After 76 minutes HB Køge got their biggest chance so far. Seehuisen made a good turn and got away centrally. He was covered there, but he played a good through ball out to Pierre Larsen on the right side, where Larsen was fairly free. Pierre Larsen struck at goal as he entered the box and aimed for the far post. But Kevin Stuhr produced a fine save and blocked it.
Three minutes later Oliver Kjærgaard found Tonni Adamsen with a good through ball after good build-up play through the middle. Adamsen had got well into the box and shot for the far corner, but at the last second an HB Køge foot got in the way. The match was on a knife-edge as the two teams entered the final ten minutes.
Five minutes from time it was then very, very close to HB Køge capitalizing on FCH not having been sharp in front of goal. Pierre Larsen delivered a corner straight onto the forehead of Mathias Nielsen, who stood completely free at the near post. The big center-back headed at goal, but somehow sent the ball past the upright. Huge chance for the home team.
Just as we entered stoppage time, Oliver Kjærgaard broke up HB Køge’s build-up and drove to the byline with the ball. From there he crossed it into the six-yard box, but HB Køge’s defense got in front of Drost centrally and saved it for Snorre.
In the five minutes of added time there was a big chance for Peter Buch, who had just come on, and a couple of free kicks for HB Køge that were close to becoming dangerous, but there were no more goals. So FC Helsingør could raise their arms after a fifth win in six attempts, and still call themselves unbeaten. The next task already awaits on Saturday, when the promoted side from Jammerbugt host them in North Jutland. Kickoff is at 14.00.
FCH: K. Stuhr Ellegaard, F. Bay (’57 N. Mouritsen), N. Hansen, K. Enghardt, P. Rejnhold, D. Norouzi, F. Juul Christensen, C. McCowatt (’66 O. Drost), L. Jordan (’57 O. Kjærgaard), E. Just (’86 P. Buch Christiansen), T. Adamsen (’86 S. Czajkowski)
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch.dk
