FC Midtjylland lose vital step in two-horse race for Danish title against Sonderjyske

[p]Championship contenders [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/midtjylland/8GZDmdbB/"]FC Midtjylland[/a] showed major signs of weakness on Saturday when they, after an otherwise dominant display,  threw away a 2-0 lead and only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/midtjylland-8GZDmdbB/sonderjyske-42ectuVa/?mid=U3XWklSp"]managed a 2-2 draw[/a] against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sonderjyske/42ectuVa/"]Sonderjyske[/a] in the Superliga championship game.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simsir-doguhan/lzFZRPo5/"]Aral Simsir[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osorio-dario/bX9wQWSA/"]Dario Osorio[/a] both scored in the first half, and Elias Olafsson saved a penalty kick, before Sonderjyske's Mohamed Cherif and Olti Hyseni managed to restore parity in the final phase.[/p][p]It was Midtjylland's fourth successive league match without a win, and championship rivals AGF now have the chance to open a seven-point gap to Mike Tullberg's outfit with just seven rounds of the season left with a victory at Viborg FF on Monday evening.[/p][p]Sonderjyske is still third in the table, well behind the top duo, but is therefore still in contention for a ticket for the European competitions. [/p][p]The home side otherwise made a strong start on Saturday, and Chilean Dario Osorio had a close-range effort from distance before Simsir opened the score after 12 minutes.[/p][p]Defender [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diao-osman/CdascET3/"]Ousmane Diao[/a] broke up a Sonderjyske attack, and after using Cho Gue-sung as an intermediary, the ball ended up in the box with Simsir, who directed the ball through Maxime Soulas' legs and past Sonderjyske goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bundgaard-marcus/bkjiZUyS/"]Marcus Bundgaard.[/a][/p][image alt="FC Midtjylland - Sonderjyske - Player Ratings" id="84a8e926-b70a-4992-a6b5-aa46a0a848ec" credit-line="Flashare" guid="68819a58-566b-4780-98bc-1e4de372dde3" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]The home side was in control for the most part in the following period, and 19-year-old starting debutant Julius Emefile, among others, tested Bundgaard.[/p][p]At the end of the first half, Midtjylland lost midfielder Valdemar Byskov to injury and moved Diao into central midfield.[/p][p]On the hour-mark, the home side then doubled the lead when Osorio used Simsir's well-tempered deep run to his advantage, passed Bundgaard, and rolled the ball over the line.[/p][p]Victor Bak, who had been selected for the national team's recent matches but did not get playing time, was close to making it 3-0 shortly afterwards with a thunderous long shot.[/p][p]After 67 minutes, the visitors then squandered an opportunity to cut the deficit when goalkeeper Eilas Olafsson saved a penalty from Lirim Qamili, but seven minutes from the end, the powerful Cherif made it 1-2 after Tobias Klysner's cross.[/p][p]With just a minute left, Olti Hyseni then completely silenced the local crowd with a very late equalizer.  [/p]