AGF - FC Copenhagen
FC Copenhagen on Sunday night took a huge step towards the Danish title as they for the second time within a week took a 3-1 win against AGF, this time in Aarhus where a sunny, warm day created the perfect conditions for a match of this importance.
AGF coach Uwe Rösler had chosen to replace Jesper Hansen with Leopold Wahlstedt in goal before the match but this proved to be the wrong decision as Wahlstedt shortly before the interval failed to hang on to a shot from Giorgi Gocholeishvili and Lukas Lerager was left with a easy task to lift the rebound into the roof of the net.
The home side gradually worked themselves back into the match and managed to restore parity after 65 minutes when the FC Copenhagen rearguard failed to clear a cross and Felix Beijmo reacted quickly to bundle the ball over the line.
AGF following put plenty of pressure on the league leaders but it was Jakob Neestrup’s side who reclaimed the lead, when Andreas Cornelius put the ball on a plate for Jordan Larsson to make it 2-1 before Thomas Delaney in injury time put the final nail in the Aarhus coffin.
Lyngby - Silkeborg
Lyngby on Sunday afternoon recorded a hugely important 2-0 win at home against Silkeborg, which allowed them to crawl out of relegation zone on the expense of AaB who will be in action on Monday.
It was Lyngby’s first win in the relegation play-offs, where they had only managed to assemble two points in the first five rounds. Lyngby’s opening goal came after 20 minutes following a big mistake by the visitors. Pelle Mattsson lost control of the ball allowing Lyngby-striker Jesper Cornelius to run past Silkeborg keeper Nicolai Larsen before rolling it into an empty net.
It was Cornelius' first Superliga goal in his tenth successive appearance. Lyngby carried their momentum into the second half, and Silkeborg coach Kent Nielsen responded with three substitutions before the hour mark as leading goalscorer Tonni Adamsen was given a chance to shine.
Nevertheless, Lyngby made it 2-0 midway through the second half. Silkeborg lost the ball in their own half, and in a quick changeover Saevar Magnusson was put clear on goal, and the Icelandic striker cleverly lifted the ball over Larsen for a 2-0 lead. Silkeborg had a shot on the post towards the end but never came closer as Lyngby recorded three vital points.
Sonderjyske - Viborg
Sonderjyske looked to be headed for another win as they led 2-0 at home against 10-man Viborg with about 15 minutes to go before two goals by Yonis Njoh towards the end spoiled the party at Haderslev.
The home side otherwise had a dream start to the game as they already led 2-0 in the space of just 11 minutes. Sonderjyske already took the lead after three minutes, when Ivan Näsberg headed the ball into his won net and the home side compounded the misery for the visitors after 11 minutes, when 17-year old talent Olti Hyseni drove the ball into the box and steered the leather into the net at the near post.
All hope seemed lost for the visitors, when they were cut down to ten men after 65 minutes, when Serginho twice within a few minutes were handed a yellow card and following sent off. But Yonis Njoh gave Viborg a lineline, when he latched on to a cross from Isak Jensen after 73 minutes and then seven minutes from the end, he completed an unlikely comeback, when he struck home from the edge of the box to give the visitors a share of the spoils.
FC Midtjylland - FC Nordsjaelland
Danish champions FC Midtjylland kept up the pace in the two-horse race with FC Copenhagen for the title by recording a very comfortable 5-0 win against FC Nordsjaelland to keep the gap to their Copenhagen-rivals limited to one point.
Franculino was by far the Man of the Match scoring a wonderful hat-trick which left no doubt of the outcome. The Portuguese striker kicked off his one-man show after just twenty minutes, when he seached across the box and curled a wonderful shot past Andreas Hansen.
Franculino then doubled the lead thirteen minutes later, when he played a one-two with Oliver Sorensen and in similar style as the first goal curled the ball into the far corner in spectacular fahion. The Portuguese magician then completed his hat-trick two minutes from the interval, when Kian Hansen flicked on a cross for him to make it 3-0.
And immediately after the visitors restarted the game, FC Midtjylland stole possession and Valdemar Byskov was put clean through to make it 4-0 just seconds before the interval. 14 minutes from the end Adam Buksa completed the rout, when Oliver Sorensen again turned provider for the Polish international to hammer the ball home.
FC Copenhagen leads the table with 53 points, one point ahead of FC Midtjylland with four matches left to play. Vejle and AaB who are at the bottom of the table, will face each other Monday in a crucial relegation clash.