It was an FC Helsingør side with revenge to seek that on Saturday hosted Silkeborg. And it was an FC Helsingør side that played with hunger, intelligence and aggression, which ended up taking all three points.
Helsingør came out with a high press, and from the start put the Silkeborg players under pressure. After just two minutes, a big chance came when a long throw-in into the box from TK was headed on by Daniel Jørgensen, but the ball sailed across the small area without anyone getting a touch on it. Just a few minutes later, Nicolas Mortensen produced the first of many FCH attempts directly on goal, when a shot from distance went wide and out for a corner.
After seven minutes, Adnan Mohammad broke down Silkeborg’s defense. He won the ball just outside the box and kept it with him, even though the Silkeborg defense tried to tackle him. Instead of driving into the area, he took an optimistic shot and struck the ball sweetly. It dipped into the far corner, giving Silkeborg goalkeeper Thomas Nørgaard no chance.
1-0 FC Helsingør
The lead did not make FC Helsingør retreat, and led by a very hard-working midfield trio with Basse, TK and Patrick Olsen, they repeatedly broke up Silkeborg’s build-up and put together good passing sequences while applying a high press to the visitors from the Søhøjlandet.
After just a quarter of an hour, the heavy pressure paid off again. A ball was played back to Silkeborg’s goalkeeper, and TK sprinted in from the side, closing the angle for the clearance so much that Thomas Nørgaard’s ball landed right at the feet of Nicolas Mortensen. He hit it decisively, and struck it almost even better than Adnan had earlier, scoring his second goal of the season with a beautiful, beautiful long-range effort.
2-0 FC Helsingør
Overall, FCH were behind most of what happened in the first half, and Helsingør were close to 3-0 on shots from both Patrick Olsen and Adnan Mohammad, before Silkeborg created their first real chance after just 20 minutes. Gustav Nilsson tried a shot from distance, but the ball went some way wide of the post.
After half an hour, the tireless, hard-working Matheus Leiria came very close to turning a fine cross from Ricki Olsen into the net, but the Brazilian just failed to reach the ball.
Matheus was in the action again just before the break, when he dribbled brilliantly clear of the Silkeborg defense, but his finish did not match the dribble, and the ball went some way over the goal.
That meant the teams could go into halftime with a 2-0 lead for FC Helsingør, and a home side that, besides the lead, could also take satisfaction from having been clearly the better of the two teams.
The second half was not quite at the same level as FCH’s first, and Silkeborg worked their way a little further into the game. Just five minutes into the half, SIF had a dangerous attempt, when a dead-ball situation was dancing right on the line in Mikkel Bruhn’s goal, but a strongly playing Søren Henriksen cleared it in the last second. Overall, it was a very solid Helsingør defense that repelled most things, and only on a few occasions during the match did Silkeborg become truly dangerous.
Helsingør moved the ball around intelligently and looked for the counterattack that could finally put the game to bed, while Silkeborg chased the ball without really getting close to anything. An hour had thus been played when an otherwise anonymous Robert Skov got free near the byline and sent a ball diagonally back into the area, but the dangerous cross was cleared before a Silkeborg player could reach it.
Helsingør did not let Silkeborg settle on the ball, and every player from goalkeeper to attack pulled their weight in terms of putting pressure on the SIF players. Substitutions from both teams disrupted the rhythm even more for the visitors, and we had to wait until the 83th minute before the next big chance came Silkeborg’s way. Nilsson suddenly found himself free in the box and finished acrobatically, but a strongly positioned Mikkel Bruhn managed to grab the ball down between his feet.
After that there was only sporadic action while time slowly ran out, and after the mandatory three minutes of stoppage time the Helsingør players could raise their arms and celebrate finally getting reward for a well-played match. Three very important points in the relegation battle were secured, and FCH deservedly ended their losing streak on a cold but lovely evening at Helsingør Stadion.
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch.dk
