Borre rescues draw for OB

Odense BK substitute Martin Borre struck in the second minute of added time to salvage a draw with FK Crvena Zvezda in their UEFA Cup first round first-leg encounter.

Žigic double
After Mwape Miti's opener for the hosts, two goals from the visitors' tall striker Nikola Žigic seemed to have clinched victory, before the dramatic finish at the Odense stadium. OB had certainly dominated the opening stages of the game, with their attacking trio of Miti, Steffen Hojer and Søren Berg finding space with some incisive passing and angled running. Even so, it was defender Jacob Gregersen who almost gave the hosts the lead, narrowly mis-timing a header from a Steen Nedergaard corner.

Miti opener
Miti then had two half chances – the first a snap shot when Berg had chested down, the second set up by the lively Hojer – before he scored the opener. It was Hojer who found space inside the right side of the box and squared across the face of goal for Miti to side-foot into the net at the far post.

Žigic strikes
Up until that point, Crvena Zvezda had seemed subdued, failing to create any clear-cut chances. But just five minutes after going a goal down, they were level. After some tidy midfield play from the impressive Dragan Mladenovic, an optimistic cross was floated to the far post, where the tall Žigic out-jumped Fernando Derveld to float a header over Martin Jensen.

Deflected over
On 36 minutes, OB almost regained the lead. Left-winger Thomas Lindrup eluded his man and combined with Hojer to set up burly Zambian midfield player Andrew Tembo, whose shot was deflected over. Hojer had two close-range efforts blocked from the subsequent corner – the last clear-cut chance before the break.

Žigic double
The second half started slowly, with both sides playing cautiously. Then on 64 minutes, with OB gaining momentum after Miti had missed a one-on-one opportunity, Crvena Zvezda took the lead. A deep cross from Dragan Šarac was spilled by Jensen under pressure from Dragan Bogavac and the ball rolled straight to Žigic for a simple finish.

OB pressure
The goal kicked OB into life and they flowed forward in search of an equaliser. Miti was at the centre of things, volleying over from close range before failing to guide a Lindrup cross past Vladimir Disljenkovic. Borre's cross was then headed over by Hojer with the goal at his mercy, before Disljenkovic saved well from Lindrup.

Late equaliser
Despite this pressure, Crvena Zvezda seemed set for victory, with Nenad Kovacevic almost extending their lead with a long-range shot. However, Borre had other ideas, and when Derveld chipped a ball into the box with seconds on the clock, he held off two challenges to shoot past Disljenkovic at the near post.