After a match in which FC Helsingør were in control for most of the game, the home team still had to record a 0-2 defeat in the home opener against HB Køge.
It was otherwise FC Helsingør who got off to the better start, and who had control of the game in the opening stages. Less than five minutes had been played when Nicolas Mortensen received the ball with his back to goal. He cleverly turned, and slipped the ball to Douglas, who came charging down the left flank. Despite the big Brazilian being under pressure, he still managed to send an effort off, but it went a fair way over the goal.
Three minutes later HB Køge had their first big chance. A Køge player broke free from pressure on the left side and delivered a hard cross into the box at knee height, but fortunately there was no one there to meet the ball, which went harmlessly wide. A minute later Martin Koch got into the box and made a clever move to the right, where Pascal Gregor was unlucky to slip. But Andreas Holm came down with a sliding block at the very last moment, and the shot never reached Viktor Anker in goal.
Then followed a period in which FC Helsingør gained a better foothold in the game. FC Helsingør's midfield fought well, and won many of the physical duels, and on several occasions there were signs of chances, especially for Nicolas Mortensen and Douglas, but HB Køge's defense held up well at the start of the match.
After 33 minutes, it was close. Andreas Holm found Patrick Olsen with a razor-sharp diagonal pass, and Olsen drove up through the middle to the edge of the box. There he played it square to Frederik Bay, who delivered a half cross, half shot that was centimeters from reaching Douglas in front of goal.
A minute later FCH won a free kick on the right side. TK put a ball in front of goal, where it was cleared out of the box. Mikkel Basse was standing free there, and he struck the ball, which arced beautifully toward the far corner, but goalkeeper Andreas Hansen flew across and saved it for a corner. TK took that one as well, and at the back post it was very, very close to Nicolas Mortensen getting his head to it, but his effort went just wide.
Instead, somewhat against the run of play and chances, HB Køge went ahead after 35 minutes. A misplaced pass was intercepted by a clever HBK player, and Jakob Johansson was able, with a single dribble outside the box, to get into position and finish confidently after receiving the ball at his feet.
0-1 HB Køge
Just before halftime ran out, Patrick Olsen won a free kick five meters outside HB Køge's box. TK stepped up to the ball and hit a fine free kick, but Andreas Hansen was alert and caught the shot without much trouble. So FC Helsingør had to go into the dressing room trailing 0-1, after a half in which they had had a lot of the play and also some of the biggest chances, but where HB Køge had been sharper.
The second half continued where the first left off, for the first ten minutes. FC Helsingør applied energetic pressure to HB Køge, who mostly looked for counterattacks. FCH had much of the play, but could not play through the well-organized HB Køge lines, so the game at times looked somewhat stagnant.
We had to go all the way to the 72th minute before FCH became dangerous again. Bay made a good run on the left wing and found substitute Matheus in an overlap. The Brazilian moved into the box, where he wrapped the ball around himself, away from his opponent, and finished toward the far corner, but the ball whisked just past the post.
A minute later Nicolas Mortensen set off up through the middle and sent off a thunderous shot, but once again Andreas Hansen was alert and made a fine save.
Two good chances within a couple of minutes.
After 77 minutes FC Helsingør fell further behind, as Køge, despite the fact that they had hardly had a shot on goal in the second half, went ahead. A corner was taken with a clever combination and came in low into the FCH box. There Mileta Rajovic was ready, and he shot in between the legs of friends and foes, and the ball came too late for Anker to be able to react.
0-2 HB Køge
FC Helsingør tried a final push toward the HB Køge goal, but the visitors held firm against all attempts to break through, and all it amounted to was a single shot in stoppage time from substitute Nicolas Willumsen before the referee's whistle sounded for the last time. FC Helsingør therefore had to leave the pitch with a defeat, in one of those kinds of matches most people at Helsingør Stadion would like to forget as quickly as possible.
FCH: Anker, Henriksen, Holm, Gregor, Bay, Christian “TK” Køhler, Basse, Haren, Olsen, Mortensen, Douglas. Substitutes: Samrawi, Matheus, Willumsen.
