COPENHAGEN - It took new-boy Magnus Mattson 34 minutes to endear him to the home crowd, when he hammered in a highly surprising equalizer in for FC Copenhagen against Manchester City. It sent the home crowd rocking to a degree that authorities once again had to remind the Ultras on Section 12 that jumping is not permitted. The construction in Parken simply won't hold up!
Up until that point it had been as one sided a match as you'd expect when the current club World Champions and holders of the Champions League trophy squares up against a side coming off a two-month winter break.
Pep Guardiola rarely leaves anything to chance, and he had no intention of leaving the Danish capital with anything but a convincing away win. Fielding nine of the 11 players in the starting lineup which also started the 2023 Champions League final was a power move which immediately seemed to pay off.
Manchester City laid siege to Copenhagen's 16-yard box to a degree that when Ruben Dias mistimed a pass around the 20-minute mark it felt surprising enough to raise an eyebrow. It was clearly a spanner in the works but far from the biggest blunder by a City-player in the first half as it turned out.
Manchester City almost exploded out of the blocks with the first big chance arriving within just three minutes and when Kevin de Bruyne opened the scoring after 10 minutes it could have been 3-0. Instead, the visitors failed to take their chances and up stepped Ederson with an astonishing howler. It gave FC Copenhagen the kind of chance they were so good at exploiting in the group stage and Mattson duly delivered. Having arrived this winter from Dutch side Nijmegen, he hammered in the equalizer which finally warmed up the crowd.
FC Copenhagen manager Jacob Neestrup spoke before the game of the special atmosphere in Parken, not least when an international match in taking place.
“We will see that as well on Tuesday," he promised at the press conference on Monday, adding that, “Our fans give us the opportunity to be carried forward. That is why this club has delivered so many great results against big opponents".
He was right but compared to the games against Bayern Munich and Manchester United in particular last autumn, the crowd felt a little subdued on a cold February night. Perhaps they too needed a fire starter after their two-month hiatus and in Mattson's cracker they got just that.
It didn't take long for Manchester City to reply when Bernardo Silva slotted in behind the Copenhagen defence after Kevin de Bruyne turned provider. The brilliant Belgian has served up some excellent assists throughout his career. This was not one of them, but they all count.
Having shaken off their rustiness the Copenhagen crowd truly came alive after the interval, spurring their players on while Manchester City kept the ball as far away from Ederson as possible. The Citizens were warned and had no intention of letting the home side back in once again. Having already lost Jack Grealish to an injury before the half hour mark, Guardiola was not best pleased when Bernardo Silva also had to leave the pitch with a knock.
“We knew Copenhagen play aggressively and we had to manage that which we did well", said Pep at the press conference while also acknowledging the referee had a good game. A clearly frustrated Jack Grealish is set to miss the weekend game against Chelsea at least, while it remains to be seen how serious Silva is hurt.
While Manchester City looked for openings in the second half, a new arrival in the Copenhagen defence slotted in nicely besides Kevin Diks. Having rented Scott McKenna in Nottingham Forest, the Scotsman made a promising start to his career in Denmark. Keeping Erling Haaland quiet is no mean feat and judging by their first match together, opposing strikers in the Danish Superliga face a tough time in coming months.
“I felt it was important for McKenna to give him this game, as he's not played a competitive match for some time," Copenhagen manager Jacob Neestrup stated afterwards, as he also recognized his side was exposed to what he called a “tempo-shock".
“This was a tough night as we met a team with a very professional mindset. Yes, I am annoyed about conceding in injury in both halves, but City were better than us in every aspect of the game."
Manchester City finally broke through the Copenhagen defence to make it 3-1 in the dying seconds which to Jacob Neestrup settled the tie.
“With 2-1 there would have been a slight opportunity at the Etihad in two weeks. 3-1, well…," Neestrup said, acknowledging the brute force of their opponent.
“They were a level or two above the opponents we played in the group."
Manchester City clearly came with the intention of killing off the tie before the second leg. It proved more difficult than the opening 15 minutes suggested for which FC Copenhagen can take a lot of positive. But the champions are marching on.
