AB Gladsaxe played today the final friendly before the league starts again on 7 March 2026. On a really good pitch at Brøndby Stadium, AB won 3–1 against a very strong Brøndby IF side, who named Superliga players Daniel Wass, Sean Klaiber, Mads Frøkjær-Jensen, Frederik Alves Thidemann and Jordi Vanlerberghe in the starting XI, just to mention a few from today’s team.
AB led 2–0 at half-time thanks to goals from Noah Engell and Jonathan Mathys. At the break, Brøndby IF replaced the Superliga players with strong Masterclass players. In the second half, Oskar Fenger pulled one back for Brøndby IF to make it 1–2, before Marcus Immersen sealed the win after 22 minutes to make it 3–1.
AB started the match with the following line-up
In goal Adam Ingi Benediktsson, right-back Frederik Lindgaard, centre-backs Marc Dal Hende and Adrien Koudelka, left-back Mikkel Brund, midfielders Alfred Horup and Søren Ilsøe. On the left wing Jonathan Mathys and on the right wing O’Vonte Mullings. Up front, Noah Engell and Milan Silva Rasmussen started.
First half
A strong defence and an aggressive attack were the recipe for today’s test match. Both teams started at a high tempo and pressed each other.
Brøndby IF had the first chance of the match when, after just two minutes, a cross fell nicely, but the header went over the bar. AB quickly got their attacking play going again, though, and it was a pleasure to see how they kept working for each other. The defence was a tight, alert bastion.
After 15 minutes, Milan Rasmussen put in a perfect tackle on a Brøndby IF shot. Milan Rasmussen then carried the ball forward himself and sprinted upfield. He played Jonathan Mathys through the middle, and Noah Engell ran into the box and, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, poked the ball into the net to make it 1–0.
After 25 minutes, Frederik Lindegaard played a sharp pass along the ground into the box, where Jonathan Mathys slid in towards the ball but didn’t quite get a touch to put it away. Just three minutes later, Jonathan Mathys got another chance to score – and this time he did.
Noah Engell had drifted out wide and passed to O’Vonte Mullings, who turned on the spot and returned the ball to Noah Engell. Noah Engell then played a low ball into the box, where Jonathan Mathys arrived and scored.
Alfred Horup came very close to scoring a couple of times, but it didn’t happen. Brøndby IF had a chance to pull one back after 40 minutes, when AB were played through down the left. The Brøndby IF player got clean through and finished at Adam Ingi Benediktsson, who came out, made himself big and pushed the ball away for a corner. Adam Ingi Benediktsson also dealt well with the corner, coming out strongly into the box.
Just before half-time, Marcus Immersen came on in place of Milan Silva Rasmussen, who had played a really good match but had to go off injured.
Second half
Brøndby IF put an entirely new team on the pitch. It was U17 and U19 players, and they brought a different energy and aggression. Mikkel Brund and Adrien Koudelka worked very consistently and, before it became dangerous, they dealt with the chances Brøndby IF created.
After 10 minutes, AB lost the ball in midfield and Brøndby’s attackers could run at goal. Nikolaj Johansen played it out wide to Oskar Fenger, who scored to make it 1–2.
After 55 minutes, Tobias Hageltorn replaced Jonathan Mathys and Casper Grening replaced Noah Engell, taking up a position right up front. Even though Brøndby’s young players kept working hard, it was AB who had control and most of the play. After 70 minutes, Tobias Hageltorn received a good pass out wide and drove towards the byline, and Brøndby IF’s defence had to put the ball out for a corner. The corner dropped nicely in the middle of the box, and Adrien Koudelka rose high and headed towards goal, but the effort was blocked and the ball stayed in play, leading to two good shooting chances for Alfred Horup – both of which were blocked.
Just five minutes later, Tobias Hageltorn sent the ball into the box, where Marcus Immersen got on the end of it and scored to make it 3–1.
In the last 15 minutes of the match, Travian Sousa came on at left-back in place of Mikkel Brund, and Tobias Damtoft came on at right-back to take over from Frederik Lindgaard. Jeppe Gertsen came into central defence and Adrien Koudelka took a seat on the bench. Marco Vesterholm came on in midfield in place of Alfred Horup.
Late in the match, Emil Mygind Jensen, Tobias Lykkebak and Noah Ibsen came on in place of O´Vonte Mullings, Søren Ilsøe and Marc Dal Hende.
Head coach Fannar Berg Gunnólfsson was pleased with the match:
It was a really good test against a strong team with a lot of quality. In the first half, the players were absolutely fantastic; defensively they were on their toes the whole time and everyone was aggressive in their play.
I’m really happy with how the players worked together, and going forward we played quickly and bravely. We managed to open up Brøndby’s defence quite easily a few times. We also had a perfect second half. Of course, it always requires adjustments when the opponents line up with a completely new team for the second half. We lose a bit of rhythm, but we find it again after about 10 minutes and once again had full control of the match.
We made a lot of substitutions, and those who came on also played really well. We created many, many chances and we could have scored more goals. We still have players who aren’t 100% fit yet, but it’s really important that they get minutes, and they did today.
Overall, I’m very satisfied and happy that we did the things we had agreed on and stayed focused on that.
Now we have the weekend off and the players need to let their muscles recover. Then next week we start getting ready for the first match on 7 March against HIK. The players have worked really hard in this build-up, and I think we’re ready.
