BK Hacken and TNS set Champions League goals ahead of Park Hall clash
OSWESTRY, ENGLAND - 22 APRIL 2023: The New Saints manager Craig Harrison prior to the Second Phase of the JD Cymru Premier 2022/23 Championship Conference league fixture between The New Saints FC & Connahs Quay Nomads at Park Hall, Oswestry, ENGLAND March 12th, 2022. (Pic By John Smith/FAW)
TNS will have to come from 3-1 down against BK Hacken to have any chance of progressing into the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League this season.
Goals from Ibrahim Sadiq and Mikkel Rygaard gave Häcken the lead inside the first 15 minutes of the game at the Bravida Arena.
Last season’s Cymru Premier top scorer Declan McManus pulled a goal back for TNS with just over 30 minutes on the clock to put Craig Harrison’s side back in the game.
However, Even Hovland fired Häcken back into a two-goal lead just five minutes later to put the Swedish side back in control.
Despite their dominance, the second half would pass without a goal either way, meaning it is still all to play for at Park Hall tomorrow night.
Whilst his side go into the game as underdogs and with a two-goal margin between themselves and Häcken, Harrison believes The New Saints can turn the tie around.
“There is still an expectation because I don’t think anyone can expect more than what I do and what the players do,” he explained.
“Yes they are very good players, but you see week in week out with football across the world miss match in games.
“It’s not an excuse to go out and just throw the towel in. It’s up to us to try and put a plan together and try to give ourselves the best opportunity.
“We genuinely believe that with a two-goal deficit and we score first, it’s game on.
“They have got a busy schedule, so that’s the down side of being in season that they’ve got league games and they’re competing to finish top again, so they’ve got pressure on a couple of fronts whereas we haven’t started our domestic league yet.”
With the Cymru Premier champions having grabbed that goal through McManus in Sweden, Harrison explained what the plan was for his side last week and going into tomorrow evening’s game at Park Hall.
“It was completely off the training ground,” he stated.
“The way in which we could get in, the movement beforehand, the pattern of play to get to where we got to, and obviously Dec was at the end of it to finish it off.
“Jordan Williams did fantastic work, we felt we could find a bit of weakness down that side with Jordan getting a 1v1 against their right sided centre back. Their manager took their right sided centre back off.
“They were bringing on more internationals all across the pitch, so it is tough.
“We’ve got a clear game plan with how we think we can expose their very small weaknesses.
“I still think looking back the third goal is offside. No matter what anyone tells me I don’t think the VAR camera is directly in line.
“It’s just sometimes the quality of players. Timings, abilities, turnovers and counter attacks.
“At some point we’re going to be open. We can’t play the whole game with eleven men behind the ball, so there is going to be opportunities for them to get in with the quality they’ve got.
“They’ve got to have the same attitude to what they had last week. Leave everything on the pitch. You’ve proved in the second half that with a bit of luck, a bit of fortune, a fantastic defensive and goalkeeper display that we can keep a clean sheet over a 45 minute period.
“If we can get into halftime with a clean sheet, then we’ll have a plan B to move into the second half.”
Embed from Getty ImagesBK Häcken boss Per-Mathias Høgmo also gave his thoughts on The New Saints, as the Allsvenskan side look to ensure they progress into the Second Qualifying Round of the UCL.
“We know we are playing a good team,” he began.
“In international games, you always have to be concentrated in every part of the game. They are decent with the ball. We are going to be a bit more direct to hit in behind them, but we’ll see tomorrow.
“We need to be prepared and this group is very professional. We are coming here tomorrow to do the job.
“We have an aim to go into the group stage (of the Champions League) and that’s why these two games are important.
“We have a culture to take this one game at a time.
TNS face BK Häcken in the UEFA Champions League First Qualifying Round second leg tomorrow evening, in a 19:00 BST kick-off at Park Hall Stadium.
