Viborg’s Mads Sondergaard who suffered a foot injury in late April celebrated his comeback by scoring twice as Viborg drew level with Brondby in the Superliga standings, securing a 2-1 victory over the reigning champions AGF who otherwise controlled proceedings for large stretches of the match.
It was Viborg’s first victory over AGF in three years. Viborg has seven points from four matches. Brondby, currently at the top of the table, has played one game less.
AGF has played three league matches and remains winless as their first two games ended in draws. Initially, AGF looked like a team suffering from a European hangover following their setback in Azerbaijan.
Their defense was porous, and Viborg found it easy to create chances. Ten minutes in, AGF were caught napping on a set-piece, and Jesper Hansen showed poor reflexes on the goal line as Sondergaard headed the home team into the lead.
However, the goal acted like a hangover cure for the visiting Aarhus side. Suddenly, their passing clicked, and they upped the pace of the game.
And after half an hour Viborg goalkeeper Kasper Kiilerich and the Viborg-defense caved in. Fine build-up play by Markus Solbakken set up Frederik Emery, who equalized with a composed, well-placed finish using the inside of his foot.
AGF dominated most of the play, and despite a strong start to the match, Viborg must have been satisfied going into the break at 1-1. AGF continued to dominate play in the second half, but Viborg began to pose a real threat on the counter-attack. And Mads Sondergaard wasn't done celebrating his first start in over three months.
Just past the hour mark, the midfield ace once again demonstrated his ability to time his run into the box as Oliver Bundgaard whipped in a cross and Sondergaard steered a strong header into the net.
The visitors then ramped up the pressure, while Viborg dug in further. With just over fifteen minutes remaining, disaster nearly struck when James Bogere was played through and hammered the ball against the crossbar.
In the final minute, Bogere found himself through on goal again, but Kasper Kiilerich produced a match-winning save.