Crvena zvezda are through to the Champions League play-off after a memorable night in Denmark. A penalty shoot-out had to separate the sides who were tied at 1-1. Our team were forced to play with ten men for more than an hour, but the players held on to claim a priceless victory.
Ground: Parken
Attendance: 29.872
Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania)
Goalscorers: N’Doye 45’ - Boakye 17’
Copenhagen: Grytebust, Varela, Papagiannopoulos, Nelsson, Bengtsson, Holse, Zeca, Stage, Fischer, Wind, N'Doye.
Substitutes: Johnsson, Thomsen, Sotiriou, Mas Jaume, Bartolec, Oviedo, Falk.
Crvena zvezda: Borjan, Gobeljić, Milunović, Degenek, Rodić, Cañas, Jovančić, Ivanić, Marin, Vukanović, Boakye.
Substitutes: Popović, Pankov, Jander, Vulić, Petrović, Simić, Jevtović.
Injuries to Milan Pavkov, Ben and Srđan Babić meant that Vladan Milojević had to make a few changes to the team that drew with Copenhagen a week earlier. Richmond Boakye started as lone striker while Marko Gobeljić took the right back slot.
This big match captured the imagination of both sets of fans as Zvezda faithful flocked to Copenhagen from around Europe. And those fans expected the Lithuanian referee to award a spot kick in the first minute as Carlos Zeca stamped on the foot of Mirko Ivanić. Suprisingly, the ref said no.
The home side enjoyed most of the possession early on, but our team looked well organized and ready to make the most of any opportunity to break into the home team’s half.
It was one such occasion that left Marko Marin with the ball close to the left touchline. Our captain took a touch before delivering a perfect cross for the lurking Richmond Boakye. The Ghanaian timed his movement perfectly, stepped away from the defender and poked the ball into the net to send the travelling fans into raptures.
It was a battling half for the Serbian champions and it looked like it was going to end with a minimal lead, but Copenhagen’s stiker Dame N’Doye popped up just before the half time whistle and scored a close-range header after Zvezda failed to clear their lines. It was 1-1 and the teames were in balance, tied at 2-2 on aggregate.
Zvezda were dealt a tough blow eight minutes into the second half when Nemanja Milunović received his second booking of the night and was thus sent off. It turned into a whole different game from that point on as our team struggled to obtain the ball and keep it for any reasonable period. It was all Copenhagen for long spells of the match, with Zvezda only periodically managing a foray into the opposing half.
There were no winners after 90 minutes and there were no winners after 120 minutes either, with dreaded extra time bringing some heroics by our defenders. It was one of those games that always looked like it was going to be settled by penalites. And so it was.
Milan Borjan heroics, the number of missed penalties and the sheer number of penalties taken is already a blur, but the fact of the matter is that the red and whites celebrate tonight. What a game, what an occasion. What a win!
We've reached the Champions League play-off and secured at least the participation the Europa League group stage in the process.
Remarkable.