HIK hosted Esbjerg in the Danish Cup Round of 32 on Tuesday evening and lost 0-5. The visitors were clinical, scoring five goals without reply. And here's the thing — this wasn't a match that drifted away from the hosts. Esbjerg came out with purpose from the first whistle.
J. Kolawole opened the scoring in the 24th minute, then added another in the 53rd. M. Maden found the net in the 63rd, J. Ampofo in the 68th, and N. Strunck completed the tally in the 79th. Esbjerg moved through the phases with purpose. By then, the home side had already made a substitution to try to change things.
The match turned in the 63rd minute when M. Maden scored Esbjerg's third. The visitors were switching off at the back, and the old head settled them down. One mistake ends it, and HIK couldn't recover. The visitors held a high line and punished every error.
Esbjerg registered 98 attacks compared to HIK's 85, with 4 corners to 1. Possession was even at 53% for the hosts and 47% for the visitors, but shots told a different story. HIK had only 1 corner while Esbjerg had 4. The statistics show a team that dominated the space.
The result leaves HIK with a heavy defeat in the cup competition. Esbjerg advances to the next round with confidence. The prediction we made didn't come true — we gave a home win with 42% confidence, but Esbjerg had other ideas.