July 17, 2008: UEFA Cup, 1st qualifying round, 1st leg:
EB/Streymur – Manchester City 0-2 (0-2) 09' 0-1 Martin Petrov 28' 0-2 Dietmar Hamann
In front of 5400 spectators, a record crowd for a European Cup-match in the Faroe Islands, EB/Streymur got away with a very respectable 2-0 defeat against Manchester City.
Manchester City went very close after 6 minutes, but René Tórgarð made an outstanding save to keep Darius Vassell’s header out.
But a couple of minutes later, Tórgarð could do nothing with Martin Petrov's shot from just within the penalty area, after a square-pass from Darius Vassell on the right. The EB/Streymur defence was rather passive in the whole incident.
Vassell could have doubled City's lead in the 11th minute when he was clear with the keeper, after he had escaped EB/Streymur's off side-trap, but Tórgarð made aother fine save when he bloced Vassell's attempt.
A couple of minutes before the half hour mark, Diether Hamann fired the ball into the top left corner from just outside the penalty area, after EB/Streymur failed to properly clear the corner.
The 2nd half was played in a low tempo where EB/Streymur had their fair share of the possession, although they didn’t create clear-cut chanches.
Manchester City were very tame throughout the half, and created only a couple of real chances.
The return leg will be played on 31 July.
Match Highlights, EB/Streymur vs. Manchester City
Brøndby IF - B36 Tórshavn 1-0 (0-0) 49' 1 - 0 Max von Schlebrügge
B36 did remarkably well in holding Brøndby to a narrow 1-0 victory.
B36 fought in an exemplary manner and worked their butt off throughout the game, and defended heroically. Something, that much too often is missing when Faroese teams play European matches. It's the only way to get good results.
Brøndby had their first real chance after 26 minutes when a low cross from Kasper Lorentzen on the left found Morten Duncan Rasmussen in front of goal, but B36-goakeeper Meinhadt Joensen made an excellent reflexive-save.
Before that, Brøndby had only had a couple of half-chances.
3 minutes before the break, Brøndby were close again, but the header at the far post was on the wrong side of the post.
The minute after, B36 had their best opportunity of the 1st half, when a ball fell to Jóhan V. Gunnarson inside Brøndby's penalty area, but unfortunately the shot went wide. - Had it been on target, it would have gone in.
Brøndby's supporters were disgusted with their team's display and booed them out at halftime!
The boos were answered early in the second half when Brøndby finally managed to break the deadlock. Brøndby had a corner and lot of movement in the goal-area seemed to confuse the B36 players who let an unmarked Max von Schlebrügge head home the corner from Lorentzen.
B36 were desperately close getting the equalizer 20 minutes into the half when Súni Olsen's freekick from 40 meters hit the post.
Brøndby had a couple of clear-cut opportunities to increase their lead after that. First Lorentzen was played through, but he missed the target.
And in stoppage time, B36 cleared Chris Katongo's header off the line after a corner.
After the match, Brøndy were again booed off the field by their own.
The Danish TV commentators thought that B36's Súni Olsen had been the man of the match.
The return leg will be played on Gundadalur's artificial grass in Tórshavn on 31 July.
But Brøndby's coach didn't fear the artificial grass, as Brøndy were going to do some training on their own artificial training-pitch ahead of the match.
Match Highlights, Brøndby IF vs. B36 Tórshavn
July 31, 2008: UEFA Cup, 1st qualifying round, 2nd leg:
Manchester City – EB/Streymur 2-0 (0-0) 48' 1-0 Martin Petrov 90' 2-0 Darius Vassell
EB/Streymur managed to hold Manchester City from scoring in the 1st half - not least because of René Tórgarð's heroics between the posts -, but in the 2nd half City got an early goal before they added one in stoppage time.
Manchester City piled on the pressure from the start and went close on a couple of occasions within the first 5 minutes of the match.
After a quarter of an hour, EB/Streymur's goalkeeper René Tórgarð made an outstanding save to deny Daniel Sturridge.
Midway through the half, Tórgarð was called into action again, this time saving from Elano and Sturridge.
Some 10 minutes from the break, EB/Streymur were saved by the crossbar after Vedran Corluka's powerful header.
In the dying moments of the first half, City so nearly took the lead, but Petrov's effort smashed against the upright.
EB/Streymur didn't create much at the other end. Sorin Anghel's (who didn't play in the 1st leg because he was away in Rumenia getting married) shot into the side-netting after 20 minutes was their best effort.
In the 2nd half, Manchester City gave EB/Streymur short shrift as Martin Retrov fired City ahead after only 2 minutes, after a cross from Vassell.
City had other chances shortly after, but again Tórgarð was up to the task, denying Sturridge and Elano.
In stoppage time, City finally managed to add a second goal when Vassell rounded the goalkeeper.
The goals, Manchester City vs. EB/Streymur
B36 Tórshavn - Brøndby IF 0-2 (0-0) 52' 0-1 Daniel Wass 90' (+3) 0-2 Samuel Holmén
With just the one goal in deficit from the 1st leg, B36 hoped that they could hold Brøndby from scoring, and sneak one in themselves at the other end. B36 held tight during the first 45 minutes, but early in the 2nd half, Brøndby got the goal that effectively meant game-over for B36, as they now had to score 3 because of the away goal-rule.
B36 had defended very well during the entire first half, and only once did Brøndby have a qualified finish on target, but Odmar Færø cleared the header off the line. In addition to that, Brøndby had a header that went close by after a quarter of an hour, and a little later, a shot that went close by the post.
At the other end, B36 had practically nothing to offer, as they approached the game with a very defensive game-plan.
In the 2nd half, Brøndby nearly took the lead after only a couple of minutes, but B36 survived the “treble-chance”. The first attempt was cleared off the line by Dmitrije Jankovic via the crossbar. The rebound was then headed on the post, before the 3rd attempt was blocked by a B36-defender.
However, that relief for B36 was short-lived as Brøndby scored the decisive away-goal just 4 minutes later.
The situation, a Brøndby free kick 10 metres outside the corner of the penalty area, didn’t look to threatening at first, but the B36-keeper made a wrong judgement of the in-swinging free kick which floated over him into the far top corner.
The contest was now effectively over, as B36 now needed to score 3 times.
B36 got a bit more offensive after the goal, and had a couple of chances to equalize. One of those chances fell to Ingi Højsted (the ex-Arsenal and Birmingham guy) who had just come on in the 2nd half. This was Højsted's first match for B36 after a (yet another) long period with injury.
Near the end, Magnus Olsen went very close with a 25 metre-free kick, but the Brøndby goalkeeper, Stephan Andersen, made a stunning save and tipped the ball around the post.
Instead is was Brøndby who added to the score a few moments later when Samuel Holmén slotted home from close range after he was played clear in front of goal. This was nearly 3 minutes into stoppage time.
The match was played on the artificial grass in Gundadalur Stadium, Tórshavn