FC Nordsjaelland were on the verge of a big result as they hosted Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia in the Conference League on Thursday evening.
However, a red card to Justin Janssen breathed new life into the visitors, who equalized Nordsjaelland’s 2–1 lead in the final minutes, resulting in a 2–2 draw.
Consequently, the home side had to settle for a single point on their home artificial turf in Farum, bringing their total tally in the Conference League to two points.
Looking at the opening stages of the match, however, there was little indication that FC Nordsjaelland would secure any points at all against CSKA Sofia.
The visitors applied some unexpected pressure, taking the lead as early as the eighth minute—to the great delight of the many traveling Bulgarian fans at one end of the stadium.
Experienced defender Victor Nelsson gave the ball away inside his own penalty area, allowing Leandro Godoy to slip past goalkeeper Andreas Hansen and make it 1–0.
Things went from bad to worse for Nelsson half an hour in; the player—who is on the fringes of the national team—landed awkwardly on his shoulder following a challenge and had to be substituted.
The home side returned for the second half looking much stronger, and ten minutes after the break, they found their breakthrough. Ibrahim Adel managed to get a toe to the ball ahead of a passive, inattentive Sofia defender, poking it over the line.
Twelve minutes later, the home side took the lead. With a brilliant backheel pass, Alexander Lind served the ball up on a silver platter for Ibrahim Adel, who claimed his second goal of the match. But then Justin Janssen received his second yellow card and was sent off, and two minutes before the end of regulation time, the North Zealand side was punished.
Leandro Godoy was in the right place at the right time, firing a rebound into the net to make it 2–2. Sofia then wanted to retrieve the ball from the net quickly to get play back underway, and the match ended in a scuffle inside the FC Nordsjaelland goal.