After an otherwise decent match, and a fine free-kick goal from Anders Holst, it was still FC Helsingør who had to throw in the towel when the cup match against Næstved was decided after extra time and a penalty shootout. Unfortunately it was the visitors from Næstved who were sharpest from the 11-meter spot, and FC Helsingør are therefore out of the cup.
The first ten minutes FC Helsingør moved the ball around quite a bit, while Næstved mostly waited to win back possession and launch a counterattack. But neither team managed to create chances. A quarter of an hour had been played before the first big chance came along. It was the visitors from Næstved who came closest to a huge opportunity, when Kristoffer Munksgaard went past his man on the left side of the box and played it back diagonally to a fairly free Mathias Andersen. He struck it cleanly, but Viktor Anker in the FCH goal stuck out a foot and blocked the shot. Good save by Anker.
Instead it was the home side that took the lead in the 18. minute. Patrick Olsen made a run through the middle and just managed to play the ball in behind to Matheus before he was brought down just outside the box. Matheus was stopped in the box, and then referee Jesper Nielsen whistled for the free kick after the fact. Anders Holst and Frederik Bay stood over the ball, but it was Holst who took the shot. He did it perfectly, and the ball went around the wall, hit the inside of the post, and went in. Brilliant free kick by Anders Holst.
1-0 FC Helsingør
The goal fired up the home side, and five minutes later they were close again. Sebastian Elvang delivered a free kick perfectly in front of goal, where it was only centimeters away from Frederiks Roepstorff heading the ball in, but he just failed to reach it. Big chance for "Robber".
After 33 minutes Anders Holst was very close to doubling his goal tally in the match when he got the ball in a run in behind. Holst poked the ball past his marker and was clean through on goal, but at the very last moment Næstved's Mads Olsen tackled the winger, who perhaps should have finished a split second earlier. Huge chance for Holst.
A few minutes later it was Næstved's turn to squander a huge chance. Tobias Christensen, who joined Næstved from FCH in the summer, received the ball in the box, and despite having two markers around him, he still managed to send a dangerous shot toward the far corner that forced Viktor Anker into a full-stretch save, and with the tips of his gloves he managed to push the shot past the post. Big chance, bigger save.
That meant FCH could go into the break with a narrow 1-0 lead.
The second half began with a couple of good chances for both teams within the first five minutes. First it was Næstved who came to a good finish, when the ball was worked up through the middle and Mathias Anders took the shot. His fine effort, however, was gathered by Viktor Anker. Shortly after, Patrick Olsen made a good burst through the middle and found Anders Holst in behind, but Holst's shot was again blocked at the last moment. A minute later it was again only centimeters away from Frederik Roepstorff heading a corner kick in, but his header went just wide of the post. Eventful start to the second half.
The intensity dropped a little over the next ten minutes, but after 58 minutes Patrick Olsen found Matheus with a fine pass. Matheus controlled it even better with a clever dribble and found Sebastian Elvang on the left side of the box. The winger cut inside and finished, but unfortunately missed the far corner.
After an hour of play, Næstved's Ahmed Hassan Ahmed slipped behind FCH's offside trap and sprinted toward goal. Viktor Anker stayed on his feet and forced Ahmed to take him to one side, after which Anker went down and poked the ball away in front of Ahmed. Huge save by Anker, who put in a strong performance.
But after 69 minutes things went wrong for FC Helsingør. Næstved won a free kick on the left side, and the newly substituted defender Kasper Mertz got highest of all and headed the ball past Viktor Anker. A frustrating goal to concede, but after the play and the chances it was not entirely undeserved.
FCH turned up the intensity a bit, and especially substitute Carl Lange challenged on the left wing. After 79 minutes he beat his man and played it back diagonally into the box. Mikkel Basse got to the ball and lashed at it, but his shot was too close to goalkeeper Christoffer Petersen, who saved. Good chance.
Four minutes later Pascal Gregor rose highest to a free kick into the box, but he failed to head it downward, and the ball floated in a soft arc over the goal. The otherwise prolific scoring center-back apparently did not quite realize how free he was.
Neither team managed to score in normal time, and so the match went to two periods of 15 minutes of extra time.
Extra time began with a big chance for FC Helsingør. A corner kick was played in well to Daniel Jørgensen, who had to watch an otherwise good effort be saved on the line by a Næstved defender.
After five minutes Carl Lange got through on the left side again, took a cheeky touch and shot. His powerful waist-high shot was, however, brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Petersen. But a good action from the young attacking player.
Eight minutes into extra time, Matheus was fouled from behind on the edge of the box. Anders Holst had been substituted off, so it was Frederik Bay who took the free kick. His shot, however, was a good yard over the goal. Just before the sides were switched, Patrick Olsen dribbled past two defenders and into the box, but Carl Lange was offside inside the area and had to pull away from the ball. Patrick Olsen tried himself to reach his through ball, but the Næstved goalkeeper got down just in time and won the ball.
The second period of extra time had barely started when former Helsingør player Souheib Dafloui got past Daniel Jørgensen. The tall center-back got tangled in the Næstved player's shirt, and as he was the last stop on the way to goal, everyone in the stadium knew what was coming when the referee's whistle rang out across the stadium. A straight red for Daniel Jørgensen, who had to make the long walk toward the dressing room. But as so often happens in extra time, neither team had the sharpness or the energy to put the ball away, and so the teams had to settle it in a penalty shootout.
There, all of Næstved's takers scored, while Nicolas Mortensen missed for FC Helsingør, and so it was Næstved who could pull the longest straw after a long evening for FCH.
FCH: Anker, Jørgensen, Holm, Fisch, Bay (106. Willumsen), Basse, Olsen, Roepstorff (54. Gregor), Holst (91. Mortensen), Elvang (61. Lange), Matheus.
Referee: Jesper Nielsen
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch.dk
