AB Gladsaxe played earlier today against Esbjerg fB at Blue Water Arena, where 2862 spectators attended the match. AB had to go home disappointed with a 1-2 defeat in the first game of the spring season against the league’s number one.
Head coach David Roufpanah said after the game: “We play a good game half the time. We have to be honest with ourselves. Our 1st half was not good enough. We don’t stick to our gameplan. We play too much open play and take too many chances. We are not as organized as we should be. In the 2nd half we are clearly better and we follow our plan. We create good chances, but it’s difficult when we’re behind by 2 goals. Of course, it’s a difficult game. It is the most difficult away game of the entire season. I’m happy with the 2nd half, but on the whole it’s very annoying to lose the game. We have to do better in the next game and stick to the plan, then we have a better starting point to win.”
The starting line-up was:
16 Albert Gaub-Jacobsen (goalkeeper)
3 Erik Lindell
4 Adrien Koudelka
5 Rasmus Brodersen
6 Daniel A. Pedersen
8 Darren Sidoel
10 Tim Freriks
17 Yushi Yamaya
22 Ágúst Hlynsson
24 Mark Garly Pedersen
97 Ahmed Hassan
The starting line-up was identical to the line-up in the last training match, however, Daniel A. Pedersen started in central defence. There were debuts for Yushi Yamaya, Agust Hlynsson and Ahmed Hassan in the starting line-up, and later in the match Flamur Dzelili also made his debut. Søren Ilsøe replaced Mark Garly Pedersen after the break, and Hørdur Askham replaced Rasmus Brodersen at the end of the game.
After 18 minutes, Esbjerg fB were ahead 2-0 after two corner kicks, where individual mistakes were decisive. The first corner kick came into AB’s box, and a clump play ensued. The ball ended up with an uncovered Bardhec Bytyqi at the back of the box, and he scored to make it 1-0. At the second corner kick, it was AB who had a corner kick. However, it was Esbjerg fB who took a 2-0 lead after they had cleared AB’s corner kick out of the box to an Esbjerg striker. He ran a court length with 2-3 AB players trailing behind him. Still, he made a pass across AB’s penalty area to Andreas Sejr Lausen, who scored safely.
Despite the fact that AB was trailing 2-0 after the break, AB was still in the game and in terms of play, it was an even game. AB followed well and took some chances. The biggest chance fell to Ahmed Hassan, who shot the ball just over the crossbar after a quick and well-played attack.
Darren Sidoel also showed his shooting ability, but the shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Both Rasmus Brodersen and Yushi Yamaya had several good crosses, and Yushi Yamaya a good shot after a good pressure and a very nice pass from Agust Hlynsson. AB had good speed in the passes, and Tim Freriks got completely free with the goalkeeper, but the finish was too loose. Esbjerg fB, on the other hand, had a great chance, as a player stood alone in the box. Daniel A. Pedersen came to and tackled the ball from him. Finally, the goal came after a good cross from Darren Sideol to Tim Freriks, who was well placed and headed the ball into the goal to reduce the score 1-2.
Captain Daniel A. Pedersen says after the game: “I stand with a disappointment because I think we give the game away. Those are the two goals they get. We are not very good in the 1st half. We are bad in our ball handling, are unstructured in our pressing and defending play. I also think that we played a really, really good 2nd half. We also create enough chances that we could have taken points from here today – and with a little luck, we could have won. Our 2nd half is really good, and of course we have to take that with us. It’s a shame that we don’t come back and get at least one point. In the second half we have a better and faster ball handling and we don’t lose as many balls. We start to take the right runs and get up and approach their field. Of course, we need to look at why we don’t play like that in the 1st half. And then we also have to look at how we become even sharper when we have the chance.”
The next match will be the first home game of the spring season, where Aarhus Fremad will visit on Sunday 17 March 2024 at 15:00 at Gladsaxe Stadium. Tickets for the match can be purchased here.
