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Gustavsson galvanised by Tyresö's second-half rally

Tyresö FF coach Tony Gustavsson attributed his side's 2-1 first-leg defeat of Fortuna Hjørring to a subtle half-time change in tactics while Brian Sørensen rued a costly mistake.

Gustavsson galvanised by Tyresö's second-half rally
Gustavsson galvanised by Tyresö's second-half rally ©UEFA.com

Tyresö FF coach Tony Gustavsson paid tribute to his side's second-half display after they edged Fortuna Hjørring 2-1 in the first leg of their UEFA Women's Champions League round of 16 tie.

"Everyone is excited for the next match," enthused American international Christen Press, who registered twice after the break before Nadia Nadim replied seven minutes from time to keep the Danish outfit in touch for Thursday's decider. As for Fortuna boss Brian Sørensen, he bemoaned a costly mistake that led to the opening goal but was nonetheless struck by the hosts' ability to maintain possession.

Brian Sørensen, Fortuna coach
We dominated for the first 20-25 minutes, which is something we talked about before the game. They came back into it after that, but we finished strongly. At the break I told the players to continue playing in the same way and the chances would come. Unfortunately they scored after a mistake from us. You can't afford to make mistakes at this level, but we are a young team and it was generally a good performance. We kept the ball well and stopped them playing. Hopefully in better conditions we can play at a quicker pace and dominate for longer periods.

Janni Arnth, Fortuna captain
It was a tough game. We knew that Tyresö have lots of really good players, but we did well in the first half. We created some good chances and defended stoutly before conceding two sloppy goals. It was tough in the second half but to get the goal was really important and gives us hope for the next game. Now we have to prepare for the game in Stockholm. We are still in the tie and know what to expect in the second leg. They have world-class players all over the pitch and great options off the bench, but football is a team game and that's our strength – we play as a team.

Tony Gustavsson, Tyresö coach 
It was a tricky match in the conditions. We had to work really hard. I am convinced we can control the second leg and play our natural passing game. Today we needed to be clinical, though we struggled to adapt as well as Fortuna. They were better than us in the first half and we were fortunate to go into the break at 0-0. We changed it up in the second half and scored two fantastic goals. It's not time to celebrate, but hopefully we can on Thursday. There are two things we need to focus on for the second leg – we need to respect out opponents and fight for each other.

Christen Press, Tyresö goalscorer
It was a really tough match in the conditions, so we had to work hard for the goals. We have to get used to this type of game if we are going to go far in the competition. It's vital to adapt our style of play to different conditions. We spend a lot of time on the training ground on crossing and finishing and it's helped me develop my game. I hope we'll continue to score goals, but there are no easy games at this level. It's an honour to be playing in the competition although the pressure and expectations make it tough. Everyone is excited for the next match.

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