FCK into Danish Cup quarters with late win at Sønderjyske

F.C. Copenhagen secured safe passage to the Danish Cup quarter-finals with a late 2-1 victory over Sønderjyske on Wednesday night.

Viktor Claesson scored in the first minute of stoppage time to turn the game in FCK's favour.

Sønderjyske had taken the lead in the 17th minute before a Maxime Soulas own goal levelled the tie after the hour mark.

The game looked to be heading for extra time until Claesson's deflected effort zipped into the net late on.

"Our performance in the first half wasn't good, but we turned it around after the break, and I'm satisfied with the last half hour where we pushed them deep," says FCK head coach Jacob Neestrup.

"The game went right up to the last minute. It's cup football. I think we were solid at the back again. They scores with a decent long shot at the start, but otherwise we don't give much away, although we had to change a bit when Gabriel went off. I don't know yet if it's an injury or a cramp, but of course I'm hoping for the latter.

"In the first half we didn't deliver what we needed to as a team, because even though we had some chances, we played too slowly and weren't good applying pressure. They played it out too easily and that's why we had to do something at the break.

"Jordan and Mattsson have not played together up front in those positions before, and that was my choice because we prioritised putting fresh people in, even if they didn't quite have the relationship in place.

"Players like Elyounoussi, Claeson and Lerager have played a lot, and we still have to look after Cornelius a bit, while at the same time there are players in training who have done well recently. So we tried to maintain continuity with the defensive unit and then bring freshness elsewhere into the team.

"But the defensive security carried us through the periods when it didn't work, and it's both nice and important to have strong players on the bench that you can put in, because in the last half-hour there was a class difference between the two team."

Next up for FCK is Monday's home clash with Silkeborg in the Danish Superliga, before the Lions host Istanbul Basaksehir in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday.