AB Gladsaxe played against Skive on Friday in a sun-drenched stadium with an inviting grass carpet, and it was a true goal. The result was 5-1 with two goals from Steven Simpson, one goal from O’Vonte Mullings and two goals from Casper Grening. The match was attended by 520 spectators, and there was good play and, as mentioned, many goals.
AB had today changed the player box, and if there was magic in it – God knows.
The coaching staff had changed three places for today’s match. Agúst Hlynsson had moved all the way forward in the attack and replaced Ægir Jarl Jónasson, who took a seat on the bench. Steven Simpson was back at his full-back after serving a suspension. Adrien Koudelka also took a place on the bench, and Mikkel Brund got the first starting spot of the spring season in a slightly unfamiliar position in midfield, but he solved the task well.
After that, AB’s starting line-up looked like this: Albert Gaub-Jacobsen at the goalkeeper position, in central defense were Noah Ibsen and Pachanga Kristensen, on the right side of defense was Steven Simpson and on the left side Rasmus Brodersen. In the central midfield were Søren Ilsøe (C) and Mikkel Brund. On the wings were O’Vonte Mullings and Casper Grening. At the top, Agust Hlynsson played and he was joined by Noah Engell.
AB had the ball a lot throughout most of the game. The combinations flowed, the pace was high, and the ball was played well around and along the ground.
Already after two minutes, O’Vonte Mullings set the pace and came forward on the pitch, but was fouled just outside the box. The free kick hit the wall, but AB kept the ball and the game. AB continued with very high pressure and played energetically and quickly.
After five minutes, Casper Grening passed to Steven Simpson, who safely scored to make it 1-0. Skive had not yet had the ball in play!
AB dominated and had a clear advantage, but Skive came along better and got more play in AB’s half of the field. It didn’t last long, however, when Steven Simpson got the ball, made a few moves across the middle and shot. The shot hit a Skive player and hovered over the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
Despite a 2-0 lead, AB continued the high pressure on Skive’s goal and played concentrated, direct and with high intensity. It was not fun to be Skive, who had to run many meters in vain. Barely half an hour had been played when Noah Engel drove the ball forward in the middle and sent a sharp pass to O’Vonte Mullings on the edge, who shot the ball into the net for a magical 3-0 lead.
Skive got the game going and came up with a corner kick, but Albert Gaub-Jacobsen boxed the ball away. After 35 minutes, Skive’s Marco Vesterholm took matters into his own hands and shot, so that the ball unnecessarily went into the goal to reduce the score 3-1.
AB got the game under control again, and in addition to Søren Ilsøe and Mikkel Brund putting the game in midfield, they both had a header on corner kicks, but unfortunately it didn’t end in the goal.
Shortly before half-time, Skive got a free kick a few meters outside the box. They made a smart combination and played the ball along the ground instead of laying a cross. Fortunately, Noah Ibsen was awake and neutralized the chance.
After the break, Adrien Koudelka replaced Noah Ibsen. Skive went on the pitch with renewed enthusiasm and tried to put pressure on AB. There was some turmoil in AB’s organization, but AB quickly got back on track again.
After 60 minutes, Skive’s goalkeeper made a too short pass to one of his teammates. Casper Grening perceived the situation and despite the fact that the defenders were right on his heels, he came into shooting range and increased the score to 4-1.
AB got several chances to shoot from distance, and the always energetic Agust Hlynsson was unlucky when his otherwise good shot didn’t hit the target.
Then AB came with three substitutions with about 25 minutes left of the game: Mikkel Brund who played a very good game, was replaced by Ægir Jarl Jónasson, O’Vonte Mullings left the field and was replaced by Frederik Lindgaard. Noah Engel left the field and made way for the U19 player Noah Maale, who thus made his debut in the 1st team in a division match, and he made a good jump.
The game continued with overweight for AB and few opportunities for Skive. With just under 20 minutes left, Casper Grening made a move towards the box and put a felt shot out of reach of the goalkeeper and scored to make it 5-1, which was also the result of the match.
At the end of the game, two-goal scorer Casper Grening retired and was replaced by Onesime Tembe.
Captain Søren Ilsøe praised the broad squad with the many qualities:
“As we said in the prelude, we had evaluated the match against Middelfart very well. We had to control the games better and we do that when we have the ball. We could see today that we have the ball a lot, and then they will have a hard time scoring goals. I think we dominated them for the first to the last minute. That was what we had been working on all week, and we succeeded. We had worked to get them moved a lot.
Skive likes to press, but if they don’t get the opportunities where they can counter, then they will have a hard time, and we succeeded. We had talked about how we have to be more cynical when we get the chances and score goals. So there will be more calm and that happened today.
There were a lot of good things today, so it was really fun to play football. It was very clear what Skive wanted. They wanted to play really hard football with a lot of duels, but when we play the ball around, they have a really hard time when they just have to run after the ball.
What is so good about our squad is that it is so wide and that we have so many skills sitting out on the bench. Every time a new player comes in, the opponents have to deal with some completely new players, who can do something completely crazy individually. We always have good players sitting out on the bench, and they can be crucial during the match”, Søren Ilsøe concludes.
Immediately after the game, head coach Joye Gudjonsson said that it was a good victory, but that the most important thing was the team spirit:
“It was a really good game for us. We wanted to be in control both with and without the ball, and I think we had that. We created chances and at the right times we played through their pressure. We played behind them and through the middle, but we were also dangerous on the edges. We were patient and kept the ball for long periods and created chances.
The most important thing, however, is the team spirit and how we played together as a team throughout the match. We defended well and Skive couldn’t handle our pressure.
We have been looking for that, and it is seen that we have plenty of quality in the squad to score goals. It was also great to see Noah Maale come in and make his debut in a league game, and he did well. So when I put it all together, it was a complete team performance. It was great to see.”, concludes Joye Gudjonsson.
The next match will be played on Friday 9 May 2025 at 19:00 in Sundby Idrætspark against Fremad Amager.
