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Danish league round-up: Mortensen scores hat-trick while Vejle takes shock away win

Patrick Mortensen attempts a shot against Sonderjyske
Patrick Mortensen attempts a shot against SonderjyskeFrank Cilius/Ritzau Scanpix
AS FC Copenhagen aren´t in action until Monday night, FC Midtjylland took the chance to seize top spot in the Danish Superliga on a day where Vejle recorded a surprising win in Silkeborg, Patrick Mortensen scored a hat-trick in Haderslev and the match between AaB and FC Nordsjaelland in Aalborg was called off due to a frosty pitch.

FC Midtjylland - Lyngby 

FC Midtjylland came into the match against Lyngby licking their wounds after the disappointing defeat to Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday and had Lyngby not failed to convert a host of chances against Thomas Thomasbergs men, it could easily have turned into another miserable afternoon for the home side. 

Instead FC Midtjylland were saved by a penalty converted from Adam Buksa after 33 minutes after Lyngby keeper Jannich Storch collided with him in the box. The goal came totally against the run of play as the visitors produced chance after chance in the beginning of the match, however, without being able to captitalize on their dominance.

In the last 30 minutes of the match the Danish champions looked more composed and managed to claim three points on a day when they certainly were far from their best. 

Silkeborg - Vejle 

Vejle had really dominated the headlines going into this match as Romanian coach Mihai Teja was fired ahead of the restart of the Superliga while a group of 11 investors took over the ownership of the club when Andrew Zolotkos stepped down.

It would take a miracle if Vejle are to escape relegation this season but they took the first step toward that miracle when they booked a hugely surprising 1-0 win away against Silkeborg IF. 

Silkeborg throughout the match failed to get into their usual stylish stride with neat interplay amongst their profiles as Vejle proved difficult to break down in the frosty conditions in Jutland. 

Instead Vejle took a surprise lead five minutes after the restart when German Onugkha directed a cross from David Čolina into the far corner of the goal. The home side never truly recovered from that shock and lost an opportunity to keep up with the top teams in the league. 

Sonderjyske - AGF

AGF this week chose to extend the contract with star striker Patrick Mortensen for one year and judging from the match against Sonderjyske this was a super decision as Mortensen scored a hat-trick to help the team from Aarhus to a 4-1 win and lift them into third spot in the domestic league. 

Both sides struggled to settle in the beginning of the match where none of them managed to create clear-cut scoring chances. But within two minutes (from the 24th to the 26th minute), the visitors turned the tide in their favour as Mortensen first punished a blunder from Sonderjyske keeper Marcus Bundgaard and Icelandic midfielder Mikael Andersen launched a stinging drive from the distance into the net.

Ivan Djantou then gave the home side a lifeline after 34 minutes but two further goals from Mortensen left the home side visibly deflated and they didn't find their way back into the match despite the fact that AGF had Mads Emil Madsen sent off for a second bookable offence after 66 minutes. 

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