It was not Holbæk who stopped FC Helsingør’s unbeaten run either. The team from mid-Zealand had to go home with a 5-0 defeat, after a day where Nicolas Mortensen extended his scoring streak, and Anders Holst celebrated his match number 200 for FCH with a goal. But the game’s biggest highlight was still Lucas Haren, who provided three assists.
Holbæk started by pressing up against FCH’s goal, and won a corner in the first minute. FC Helsingør, however, got out of the frying pan and into the fire, and sent the ball out to Nicolas Mortensen, who was up near the halfway line. He played the ball on to Jeppe Kjær, who had made the long run, and Kjær finished from some way out, but the ball went past the far post.
After five minutes, Frederik Bay received the ball from a long pass from midfield. He controlled it elegantly and played it on to Anders Holst, who drove toward the byline. From there he shot from a tight angle, and Holbæk goalkeeper David Paris was almost unable to keep out the effort. Nicolas Mortensen lunged forward, but at the last second Paris got down on the ball.
But three minutes later FCH took the lead. Lucas Haren made one of his high-speed runs down the right touchline and sent a looping pass in to a completely free Nicolas Mortensen at the far post. Top scorer Mortensen swung his right foot, and the ball flew in right by the post.
1-0 FC Helsingør
In the 12th minute, FCH’s other top scorer, Jeppe Kjær, also got on the scoresheet. Once again it was Haren who delivered the ball to the scorer. A flat through ball straight in front of Kjær’s boots, who safely guided it home, despite having two men on his back.
2-0 FC Helsingør
The next ten minutes were a shooting gallery from the home side. Both Nicolas Mortensen and Jeppe Kjær came close, and David Paris had to make good saves several times, or rely on his defenders, who managed to close down FCH’s attackers. But the Mid-Zealand side managed to hold firm.
Holbæk managed to weather the storm a bit and push the game up around the halfway line. A couple of times they were close to creating a counterattack, but the home side’s defense stood well, and the one time a Holbæk player got away, he was offside.
The match entered a phase where the Helsingør side were content to let the ball do some of the work, and play it around Holbæk’s players, who did also get the ball a little more. However, that did not make them truly dangerous.
In the 35th minute Lucas Haren once again got away down his flank and sent a sharp cross in front of goal. Nicolas Mortensen came on to it, but he was heavily challenged and could not direct his header properly toward goal, and the ball went over the byline. But again Haren seemed very eager to make further marks on the game.
Five minutes later Jeppe Kjær tried to break through, but was brought down just outside the corner of the box. Frederik Bay stepped up to the ball and sent a missile of a free kick over the goalkeeper and into the net. Fabulous goal by the left-back!
3-0. FC Helsingør
There were a few scattered chances toward the end of the half, but no more goals were scored, so FC Helsingør could go to halftime with a solid 3-0 on the scoreboard.
The first good chance of the second half fell to Holbæk. Three minutes into the half, the visitors won a free kick just outside FCH’s box. Malte Sjørslev stepped up to the ball and sent a good free kick past the wall and toward the far corner, but Christoffer Petersen was alert and got down on the ball all the way out by the post.
A minute later it was close to the 200-match jubilarian Anders Holst laying on an assist for his impressive FCH statistics. He drove forward through the middle with the ball and slipped a pass in behind to Nicolas Mortensen, who, heavily pressured by two men, managed to shoot, but his effort went wide.
After 56 minutes, FCH put the ball in the net again. Haren fooled his marker with his first touch and ran away from him. Haren played the ball into the box, which made its way to Nicolas Mortensen, who again was free at the far post and, unchallenged, could put it away. But unfortunately Mortensen had strayed offside.
Two minutes later Holbæk got their best chance in the match. A Holbæk player got the ball out on the right side and cracked a sneaky shot toward the underside of the crossbar, but Christoffer Petersen would not be beaten, and tipped the shot over the goal with a really good save.
FC Helsingør made a couple of substitutions around the hour mark, as Frederik Christensen replaced ”TK” in midfield, and Andreas Holm came on in place of Ricki Olsen in defense.
They say that jubilaries do not play good matches, but it did not seem as if Anders Holst had heard that old tale. After 63 minutes he came charging into the box between friends and foes, when Lucas Haren once again played the ball across the opposition area, and hammered the ball unstoppably into the roof of the net.
4-0 FC Helsingør
Five minutes later Nicolas Mortensen had a big chance to get on the scoresheet again. A ball from Haren came across, and half-standing, half-lying down, Mortensen finished, but the ball went a fair way over.
After 70 minutes it was close to FCH extending their lead. After a set piece, the ball first fell to Kjær, who shot straight at the goalkeeper, who could only push the ball back out into the box. There it fell to Haren, who shot first time, but he too had to watch his shot be blocked.
Four minutes later it was Holbæk’s turn to have a goal disallowed. A good run down the left side from Holbæk’s 10er, Jensen, led to a sharp cross that found a Holbæk player on the right side of the box. He headed it hard past Christoffer Petersen, but the assistant referee’s flag was already raised when the ball flew in. The visitors’ best piece of build-up play so far.
After 77 minutes Frederik Bay again got the chance to shoot at goal. And once again it was Haren who was brought down just outside the box. Bay stepped up to the ball, but this time his free kick sailed a meter over the goal.
A minute later Lucas Haren was close to getting on the scoresheet himself, when Jonas Henriksen found him with a good pass. Haren shot hard, but David Paris saved the effort. It would not have counted anyway, as Haren had been caught offside. That was Haren’s last action in the match as he was replaced by Carl Lange after 80 minutes. With three assists in 80 minutes one could safely speak of a very good day at the office for the lightning-fast winger
With 84 minutes on the clock, Holbæk again had a chance. In front of goal Sebastian Johansen received a good cross, but he could not get any power or venom into his finish, which Christoffer Petersen collected without problems.
Two minutes from time Nicolas Mortensen finally scored his second goal. After a bit of ping-pong play in the box with Jeppe Kjær, surrounded by a larger crowd of players, Mortensen made contact with the ball, which went in behind David Paris.
5-0 FC Helsingør
There was nothing more for the home side to do, but that was more than enough, and FC Helsingør could once again head into the dressing room with a hefty victory in the bag, and the certainty that they are still unbeaten.
FCH: Christoffer Petersen, Bay, Hansen, Henriksen, Olsen (60’ Holm), Holst, ”TK” Kristensen (56’ F. Christensen), Norouzi, Haren (80’ Lange) Kjær, Mortensen
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch.dk
