After a first half in which Viborg had the upper hand, and a second half in which FCH were very much in the driver's seat, FCH could head home from central Jutland with an important and deserved draw against the top team in the NordicBet Liga.
The first ten minutes or so were very even, with the two teams just feeling each other out. The only things that resembled chances were an FCH free kick that was cleared out of the box, and a single through ball that found a free Viborg player in front of FCH's goal, but he had been caught offside.
But then the home team began to assert themselves in the match. Viborg had the ball a lot, and swarmed around the FCH box, without it really becoming dangerous. But Helsingør had trouble getting the play moved up onto Viborg's half of the pitch in this phase of the match.
Gradually, however, FCH got a bit more of a foothold. Matheus was close to breaking away on a counterattack when the ball was cleared out of their own box, but at the very last moment the final Viborg defender got a saving foot to it.
But when the clock approached the 25 minutes, it no longer went FCH's way. Mikkel Agger escaped a tackle and set off up the left side. Agger cut into the box and finished from a tight angle, and the ball flew into the net. Sharp counterattacking play by Viborg.
1-0 Viborg FF
The minute after, FCH had two good chances from corners, as first Pascal Gregor with his head, and then Nicolas Mortensen with a shot, came close, but the ball would not go in.
With 36 minutes played, Viborg's Mikkel Knudsen broke down the right wing. He delivered a sharp, hard cross that Oliver Thychosen was ready to volley in, but in front of goal Viktor Anker pulled off a world-class save, as he used a handball reflex to punch the ball over the goal, thereby keeping Viborg's lead to just one goal heading into the break.
Right before half time, FC Helsingør had two free kicks around the box, but once again it was difficult for the FCH players to become dangerous against a solid VFF defense. So the halftime score was 1-0 to Viborg.
FC Helsingør started the second half clearly best. Less than a minute of the second half had been played before FC Helsingør managed to become dangerous. Patrick Olsen drove in from the left toward the middle with the ball. Out on the right side, Lucas Haren had crept forward, and Patrick Olsen played a pass diagonally left toward his free teammate, but a Viborg defender had smelled danger and got in with a saving foot. Good play by the two FCH players.
On the ensuing corner, Andreas Holm was close to getting on the end of it with his head, but the ball was cleared out of the box. Here Mikkel Basse was ready to let fly, but his shot went a fair way over.
Five minutes later, Matheus got the ball on the left side of the pitch. He drove all the way to the byline, where he fooled his marker and moved toward the box. His cutback ended after some scrappy play at the feet of Mikkel Basse, who struck hard and low toward the left post, but Viborg goalkeeper Jónsson was alert and got his gloves to it. FCH's best chance so far.
Two minutes later, FCH won a corner. Viborg had trouble getting the ball out of the box, and had to repulse headers and crosses from the Helsingør players on several occasions. In the end it was Matheus who could turn with a man on his back and shoot, but again Jónsson was alert and came down on the ball.
After about an hour, Lucas Haren got all the way down to the byline after another fine pass from Patrick Olsen. Haren delivered a good cross toward the six-yard box, where Nicolas Mortensen rose between two defenders, but he could not direct his header on target, and the ball went out for a goal kick. Another good chance for FCH.
Four minutes later, Nicolas Mortensen was close again. Mikkel Basse won a ball in midfield and played Mortensen first time. He found Matheus at the edge of the box, who headed it on to the surging Mortensen. Inside the six-yard box, however, Mortensen could not get a shot away before goalkeeper Jónsson managed to gather the ball in his arms.
Viborg then closed down a bit better, and although FC Helsingør had a lot of possession, chances were hard to come by. After 75 minutes, Mikkel Basse and Matheus were substituted in favor of Ibrahim Samrawi and Douglas, in an attempt to apply the decisive pressure on Viborg.
It paid off after 82 minutes of play, when Samrawi broke up along the right touchline. There he played back to Gregor, who had moved forward. Gregor found Lucas Haren, who drove into the box and passed across to Patrick Olsen. But the box was overcrowded, and Olsen could not get his shot past the Viborg defense, which conceded a corner. As usual it was Christian “TK” Køhler who ran over to take the set piece. He delivered a perfect corner, and in front of goal Pascal Gregor rose highest and headed the ball into the net. Simple and elegant.
1-1 FC Helsingør
Osama Akharraz was also brought on after 84 minutes, and at the edge of stoppage time he dribbled past two Viborg players and drove toward the box. A few meters outside the line he was brought down from behind. “TK” stepped up to the ball, but he could not get the same precision in his shot as he had in his goal-setting corner kick, and the ball went straight into the wall.
Time ran out for the home team, without them really being able to find a response, and FC Helsingør's players could then travel home from the top team's home ground with a very important point in their luggage.
FCH: Anker, Henriksen, Holm, Gregor, Bay, Christian “TK” Køhler, Basse (75’ Samrawi), Haren, Matheus (75’ Douglas), Mortensen (84’ Akharraz), Olsen
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch.dk
