Arsenal loanee Lucas Nygaard returned to the Brabrand IF lineup and made a number of good saves on Saturday, but the team lost 3-1 all the same.
Following his initial run in the Brabrand IF starting lineup between mid-September and early October, Lucas Nygaard dropped out of the side for a couple of games in favour of player-coach Henrik Lindhard.
30-year-old Lindhard is both a goalkeeper and the club’s assistant manager, and he had a mixed time back in the team. He conceded five in a 5-1 defeat to FC Roskilde, but he followed that up with a clean sheet against VSK Aarhus.
Nygaard’s spell out of the team didn’t last long, as he returned to the lineup against Akademisk BK on Saturday. But it was a very poor performance from Brabrand, and the Arsenal teenager was called upon almost constantly.
The first big chance fell to Akademisk centre-forward Jonathan Mathys, who forced Nygaard into a diving save at close range. Nygaard then got down well to deny Noah Engell’s shot in a one-on-one situation as Akademisk got in behind for the first time of many.
Mathys caused problems again as he raced into the box later in the half, forcing Nygaard into a fingertips save at the near post. But the hosts eventually took the lead from a set-piece routine in the 38th minute, with a headed flick-on turned home at the back post by Adrien Koudelka.
There was little Nygaard could have done to prevent the opening goal, nor the second that followed soon after. Marco Vesterholm powered his shot high into the top corner, an effort that would have beaten any goalkeeper.
Nygaard continued to come under fire in the second half, making a close-range save from Tobias Damtoft soon after the break. He then made an even better save to deny a Mathys header from six yards out.
But after a number of one-on-one saves throughout the match, Nygaard found himself outnumbered in the 76th minute as Marcus Immersen squared for Casper Grening to score an open goal for 3-0.
Though Brabrand pulled one goal back in the 90th minute with a very rare opportunity of their own, it was a completely dominant performance from Akademisk, and they were lucky Nygaard kept the scoreline as low as it ended up.