gritty københavn hold off stabæk published: wednesday 5 august 2009, 23.30cet stabæk if 0-0 fc københavn (agg: 1-3) the hosts were denied by the woodwork and good goalkeeping as the danish titleholders advanced to the play-off round.
by eivind aarre
fc københavn took another step towards qualifying for this season's uefa champions league following a goalless draw with stabæk if, but it proved to be an uncomfortable evening for the danish side who were given a real run for the their money by their hosts.
all-out attack following københavn's 3-1 first-leg triumph, the norwegian champions knew they needed to score at least twice to have a chance of progression. they hit the bar in the first half and laid siege to the visitors' goal in the second, but could not find the breakthrough and will have to be content with a place in friday's uefa europa league play-off draw.
woodwork struck stabæk started well at the fornebu arena and were nearly rewarded with a goal when pontus farnerud's first-minute lob came back off the crossbar. jan jönsson's side were on top, but københavn also had their moments before the break, most notably when ailton almeida shot wide from a good position after being found by jesper grønkjær.
missed chances the home team took up the running again in the second period with fredrik berglund being spectacularly denied by jesper christiansen five minutes after the interval, the visiting goalkeeper tipping the swedish forward's header on to the post. daigo kobayashi then missed another great chance for the hosts, shooting straight at christiansen when well placed. the miss summed up stabæk's performance over the two legs – plenty of endeavour, but no end product – and københavn saw out the rest of the tie to take their place in the play-off round.
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