Cepheus Park in Randers has not been a happy hunting ground in the past for AGF, but Jakob Poulsen's outfit gave new evidence why they will head into the winter break as league leaders, as they claimed three points in a hard-fought 2-1 win.
14 minutes into the first half, AGF harvested the fruit for dominating proceedings in the opening phase as Tobias Bech stole the ball on the edge of the box from a careless Wessel Dammers and hammered the ball past a helpless Paul Izzo in the Randers goal.
Just six minutes later, Bech was again on target when he scored arguably Goal of the Year in the Danish Superliga as he met Felix Bejimo's corner with a stunning half-volley to put the visitors in solid control. The home side looked down and out but claimed a lifeline just before the interval when Mathias Greve set up Daniel Hoegh to reduce the deficit following a corner.
The goal gave Randers the belief to launch a virtual siege on the Aarhus goal after the break, but Jesper Hansen produced a string of impressive saves as AGF held on for a crucial win, allowing them to top the table at the winter break.
After scoring no less than 11 goals in two successive matches against FC Nordsjaelland in the domestic league and the Danish cup within three days, FC Midtjylland went into the derby high on confidence.
However, their first half turned into a bit of a nightmare as the home side's Moroccan midfielder Bilal Brahimi curled the ball into the corner from the edge of the box after 18 minutes, and Tim Freriks doubled the lead after 37 minutes following a blunder from goalkeeper Elias Olafsson.
The visitors, however, never gave up and staged an amazing comeback in the second half as Valdemar Byskov and Martin Erlic restored parity before Mads Bech Sorensen flicked home a delivery from Aral Simsir with three minutes left on the clock to give the visitors a sensational 3-2 lead.
But Viborg had the last laugh as Mees Hoedemakers, deep into injury time, got on the end of a corner to flick the ball into the net to prompt wild celebrations from the local crowd. To add insult to injury, the leading goalscorer in the Superliga, Franculino, suffered a muscle injury and will not feature for FCM in their remaining Cup matches this year.
After a difficult first part of the season, Thomas Norgaard's Sonderjyske has been revived after impressive wins against AGF (away) and FC Midtjylland (at home).
Consequently, they went into the difficult match against FC Copenhagen brimming with confidence, and went into the interval with a highly surprising 2-0 lead after they scored two goals with two minutes just before the break. First, Lirim Qamili got the last touch to an inswinging corner, and shortly after, Kristall Ingason doubled the lead via a deflected shot from the edge of the box following a corner.
Mads Emil Madsen, Birger Meling, and Viktor Claesson replaced Lukas Lerager, Pantelis Hatzidiakos and Youssoufa Moukoko from the beginning of the second half as FC Copenhagen coach Jacob Neestrup tried to find the right formula for getting his outfit back into the game.
But they really struggled to make their influence tell against a well-organized and stubborn Sonderjyske side who stood their ground against a Copenhagen side who played without any urgency and claimed a sensational win in the Parken Stadium.
