On Saturday, FC Helsingør were heading south to chase important points against league strugglers Nykøbing FC.
They were without Liam Jordan and Frederik Helstrup, who were sidelined with injury and illness respectively.
This opened up a place in the starting eleven for Nicolai Geertsen in defense and the first start of Frederik Karlsen’s career in the blue-and-white shirt.
And after just two minutes of play, he was involved on the right wing, but the shot went into the side netting.
FC Helsingør got off to a good start and also had a small edge in the first 10 minutes. However, nothing more dangerous than Karlsen’s first shot and a cross that Geertsen did not get his head properly on.
After 12 minutes of play, Nykøbing broke through on Helsingør’s right side after a missed clearance and came to a shot from the edge of the box. Fortunately, the finish lacked precision and the shot also went into the side netting.
A few minutes later, it was again Frederik Karlsen who found space and laid the ball off to captain Daniel Norouzi, who tried his luck and thereby forced the goalkeeper into a save that resulted in a corner kick.
After 17 minutes of play, Nykøbing again broke through on the right side and this time with plenty of space toward the Helsingør goal. A couple of quick touches and a ball across the box meant that the opponents could now easily play the ball past a helpless Sayouba Mandé.
1-0 to Nykøbing FC
After 25 minutes of play, neither team could really find calm on the ball and a hard duel ended with the game’s first booking for captain Daniel Norouzi.
Nykøbing FC made the first substitution of the match after just 32 minutes of play. Several of Nykøbing’s players had by this point been down on the grass, and this must undoubtedly have been at the expense of a minor injury.
With 10 to halftime, FC Helsingør came close through Norouzi, who unfortunately was disturbed at the moment of finishing and the ball therefore went over the goal.
The good spells continued for Helsingør, where Callum McCowatt showed good dribbling and through the midfield the team several times managed to put pressure on the Nykøbing goal. Unfortunately, without capitalizing on the chances.
With just one minute left until halftime, Nykøbing won the ball back and launched a counterattack due to Helsingør’s high press. Oliver Drost, however, stopped it quickly and in doing so picked up the second booking of the match. In first-half stoppage time, the referee again shows the yellow card – this time in Nykøbing’s direction.
Half-time score 1-0
At the start of the second half, Frederik Karlsen was replaced by Mikkel Knudsen, who thereby pushed Oliver Klitten up onto the wing instead.
5 minutes into the second half, Kasper Enghardt found space and drove the ball well forward, but a turnover meant that Nykøbing could quickly counter. With only Geertsen left as the lone man back, the scoring opportunity was obvious, but Mandé held the last line and stopped the shot with a strong save with his foot.
Nykøbing remained dangerous and shortly after they played themselves free for a big chance directly in front of goal, but the finish lacked quality and the ball this time went straight into Mandé’s hands.
That, however, did not last, and after an hour of play a Nykøbing player found space for a well-placed cutback pass, which ended with a decisive shot directly into the net.
2-0 to Nykøbing.
Changes were needed and FC Helsingør subsequently brought on Sterling Yateke together with Valdemar Schousboe, who thereby also made his official debut. Callum McCowatt and Oliver Klitten came off.
Nykøbing kept up the pressure and played several balls in behind Helsingør’s defensive line. However, without any changes to the scoreboard.
More changes were necessary and after 67 minutes Jacob Schoop was replaced by Daniel Haarbo in midfield, who also played his first official match for FC Helsingør.
Nykøbing had the biggest edge in the second half, but Helsingør still showed good moments and with around 10 minutes remaining, substitute Valdemar Schousboe got himself free in the box, but the finish lacked the final quality.
A final attempt to make a difference meant that Alexander Lyng was replaced by Mathias Brems.
Towards the end of the match, Helsingør began to regain the upper hand and chased a reduction with determination, but despite several good shooting opportunities the goal never came.
On the other hand, that did not apply to Nykøbing FC, who closed out the match in the final minute with yet another goal in an overload situation.
So FC Helsingør’s lads must make the long trip home with a 3-0 defeat in their luggage.
This also means that the battle for the important top-6 places is wide open and the local derby against Hillerød Fodbold at Helsingør Stadion could become decisive.
This match will be played on Friday 3/3 at 19:00
