AB Gladsaxe played against Nykøbing FC on Friday night in the promotion play-off. The game ended 1-1 after 1-0 to Nykøbing at the break. The goal was scored by Jacob Blach Nielsen after 44 min. and the equalizer was Ágúst Hlynsson after 82 min. It could have ended in a victory, when the match referee in the 89th minute awarded a penalty kick after Christian Wagner got two arms in his back and fell to the ground. Ahmed Hassan’s shot was handled by Nykøbing’s goalkeeper. The match gave the debut to AB’s interim head coach Fabiana Alcalá and she was assisted by U19 coach Anders Mortensen. On the field, U19 player Noah Ibsen made his debut and he made a really nice jump.
In relation to the last game against Aarhus Fremad, Mikkel Brund was out with an injury and was replaced by Sørens Ilsøe in central defence. Ahmed Hassan took his place on the bench and was replaced by O’Vonte Mullings.
The starting line-up with substitutions and substitutions:
16 Albert Gaub-Jacobsen (goalkeeper)
3 Erik Lindell (out) – Frederik Lindgaard (in)
4 Adrien Koudelka
5 Rasmus Brodersen
8 Darren Sidoel (ud) – Emiliano Gomez (ind)
10 Tim Freriks (ud) – Ahmed Hassan
11 Flamur Dzelili (out) – Noah Ibsen (in)
15 Søren Ilsøe 22 Ágúst Hlynsson
24 Mark Garly Pedersen
88 O’Vonte Mullings (out) – Christian Wagner
At the start of the match, there was a lot of duel play in the middle of the field. AB first gets control of the game, takes possession of the ball and pushes the game up towards Nykøbing FC’s goal. A number of good chances arose. There were good crosses from Ágúst Hlynsson, Flamur Dzelili, Erik Lindell and Rasmus Brodersen, but either Nykøbing’s goalkeeper came in between or the finish ended up over or next to the goal. AB has several big chances, but neither Mark Garly Pedersen nor Darren Sidoel could really get the ball right. AB plays at times very fast and with narrow and sharp passes. That gave more opportunities and finishes to Tim Freriks. O’Vonte Mullings wins a corner, and the subsequent cross is well in the box, but Adrien Koudelka heads over goal. Shortly before the break, Nykøbing gets their first corner kick, which ends in another corner kick on the opposite side. On that corner kick, a Nykøbing player is completely free and he can head the ball into the goal unhindered.
It was a big setback for the players, who at that time had been sitting on most of the match. From the start of the 2nd half, Nykøbing FC puts more speed on their game and they get their chances. Albert Gaub-Jacobsen had to pull out several saves on Nykøbing’s finishes. AB has a great chance when Ágúst Hlynsson tips the ball to Flamur Dzelili, who sprints towards goal and finishes, but the goalkeeper is ready. A few minutes later, it’s the other way around, and Ágúst Hlynsson ends the attack with a shot that almost sneaks around the goalkeeper, who has to go full figure with a save. Nykøbing has a couple of situations where a player is completely free of goals, and in one of them, Adrien Koudelka shows in a great way how to play the ball from an advancing player without it giving a free kick.
AB presses on, and it gives finishes to Emiliano Gomes and Mark Garly Pedersen. Christian Wagner gets several opportunities, but fails to score. Then Ágúst Hlynsson takes action and shoots from distance into the goal to equalize 1-1. A really nice goal by the always hard-working player. Close to the 90 minutes, Christian Wagner is pushed so violently that the referee awards a penalty. Ahmed Hassan’s shot is saved by Nykøbing’s goalkeeper. In overtime, Adrien Koudelka is close to giving Nykøbing a free chance at a too short back, but Albert Gaub-Jacobsen saves.
After the game, head coach Fabiana Alcalá said: “It was a good game. We found the spaces where we knew we could threaten Nykøbing. We were unlucky that we didn’t score, because we had a lot of chances. We had significantly more finishes than Nykøbing. I’m happy with the game. The boys have really worked well not only in the match but all week. We managed to dominate the whole game. We were more in possession of the ball than Nykøbing. Of course, the players are on the draw – they are all professionals and find it difficult to only play a draw when they were the best team. We had a lot of chances and also the penalty kick, which could have brought us to 2-1. We should not be ourselves, because we have been through a very tough week. I am satisfied with the boys’ efforts.”
Captain Darren Sidoel followed up with these remarks: “It was a crazy game in many ways. We play really well in the 1st half, and we create a lot of chances. We don’t score on them. I don’t think they create anything. Then they get a corner and then it is 1-0 to Nykøbing. It felt really bad. Because we played a really good 1st half. In the 2nd half, things go up and down a bit. We still created chances and come all the way back into the game and get the equalizer to 1-1. At the end of the game, we get the biggest opportunity to win the game on penalties. I think it kind of characterizes our season that we don’t win the game after having had so many big chances. We want to win every game and if you look at the number of scoring chances, we should have won the game.”
The next match is on Friday 24 May 2024 at 19:00, when FC Roskilde will visit Gladsaxe Stadium.
