Ankergren’s Three Keep Copenhagen Level
Danny Ankergren came on as Jonathan Lindh was sent off, then scored all three of Copenhagen’s goals in a 3-3 Champions League draw.
The Champions League asks established clubs to solve more than one problem at once: how to impose themselves, and how to keep their shape when a match turns. Football Club København faced both on 21 August, when Jonathan Lindh’s dismissal on 39 minutes left them with a man fewer against FK Crvena zvezda Beograd. Danny Ankergren entered at the same moment and made the evening his own.
The Danish forward needed no adjustment period. He scored three times from three shots on target, converting every effort he put on frame as Copenhagen held on for a 3-3 draw. His first task was to give the hosts a route back into a match that had shifted against them; his last was to keep their response alive. With no clear-cut chance registered for Copenhagen, his precision mattered more than their share of the ball: they had 48 per cent possession and six shots on target, the same number as their opponents.
Ankergren’s hat-trick was a sharp return on the move that brought him home. In July, Copenhagen signed him from Queens Park Rangers for £8.6m, a Danish transfer record. The club had just completed seven consecutive 3F Superliga titles and four successive DBU Pokalen wins; in Europe, this was a different test, and one that demanded an immediate contribution from the new arrival.
The red card was not a footnote. Copenhagen had to manage the remaining match with ten men while Crvena zvezda made 17 attempts and earned eight corners. Ankergren supplied the goals; Andreas Sigil, also introduced on 39 minutes, added an assist. Predrag Ćirković provided two for the visitors, whose pressure kept the result level.
A 3-3 draw cannot settle what Copenhagen will make of this Champions League campaign. It does show what Ankergren can offer when the contest becomes difficult: not a promise of control, but three clean finishes when his side needed them.