AALBORG, DENMARK - Danny Califf and Aalborg BK came back strong from the international break as they sent Brøndby IF home with a 3-0 defeat on a goal by Jeppe Curth and two from Siyabonga Nomvethe in front of 10,359 spectators at Aalborg Stadion.

It is rare for Aalborg BK to be tagged favorites against Brøndby IF, but with the former SAS Liga powerhouse's last win in Aalborg coming back in May 2003 - to say nothing of a 23-game winless streak away from home - this was exactly the case in Sunday evening's game.

It was two aggressive teams that came out from the beginning of the match, and while the first chance was a Brøndby try just over the bar by Martin Ericsson after four minutes, the first 10 minutes saw an Aalborg team slowly establishing dominance.

After 11 minutes, the hosts showed teeth for the first time when Thomas Enevoldsen sent a through ball in to Rade Prica, but the angle became too small for the Swedish striker and Stephan Andersen saved it easily.

Two minutes later, however, a cross from Nomvethe on the right found an open Curth in front of goal, and the forward headed it into the right side of the net out of Andersen's reach.

After the goal, Brøndby took over most of the play and the AaB defenders would have a busy 20 minutes.

In the 16th minute, it was a poor clearance that went to Samuel Holmén at the edge of the box, but the finish from the Swede was weak and went over the bar.

Five minutes later, Ericsson beat Michael Jacobsen in the air to break through on goal but keeper Karim Zaza made a good low save.

After 25 minutes, Ericsson sent Chris Katongo through on goal, but again, Zaza held on to the ball.

Seconds later a cross from Nomvethe was heading for the top corner, but Andersen managed to divert it back out into the area.

The visitors kept coming forward, and after 31 minutes, Kasper Lorentzen sent a free kick into the box from the right to find Katongo, but the Zambian sent his header just wide.

Aalborg were rare to be found at the other end of the field in this period of the game, but after 36 minutes, Allan Olesen went down the right flank in a counter attack. His cross found Curth in front of goal, but the header went wide.

Two minutes later, Brøndby came close again when Martin Pedersen tackled Katongo in defense. The ball instead fell to Lorentzen, who fired from the right of the box, but saw his shot sail just past the far post.

The last chance of the half came in the dying seconds when a cross from Nomvethe on the right found Prica in the area, but his header smacked against the crossbar and it was still 1-0 at halftime.

AaB came out to the second half with renewed energy, and five minutes in, a long ball sent Prica through on goal. One-on-one with Andersen, Prica went down, but appeals for a penalty were ignored by referee Henrik Priegel.

Nine minutes later, Katongo beat Pedersen to the ball and fired from the edge of the box, but it was another shot that would go wide for the visitors.

If Brøndby had had any energy coming out to the second half, it was drained after 62 minutes. A free kick on the left side from Pedersen found Curth at the far post. The forward headed it back to Nomvethe, who easily made it 2-0.

Brøndby collapsed after the second goal, and seven minutes later, Pedersen sent a long free kick from his own half to find Prica in the box. The Swede received the ball with his back to the goal, and under pressure from Andersen tapped it back to Nomvethe, who rounded the keeper and added his second.

The goal put Brøndby's frustrations into plain view as Peter Madsen and Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen exchanged blows.

Three minutes later, Thomas Augustinussen touched through to Prica, but the Swede saw Andersen manage to divert his shot out via the post.

The rest of the game completely belonged to the home side. Brøndby tried to come forward, but failed to create any major chances. With safe passing around the field, the hosts took the 3-0 scoreline to the final whistle.

"It was amazing," a happy Califf told American Soccer Daily after the game. "It feels great to beat this team. It doesn't matter where they are in the table. It's a big rivalry for the city and for the club, and it feels amazing."

"We've been working a lot with our movement together as a back four," Califf said, explaining the massive improvement his defense has undergone.

"It's been a little rocky in the past few games with togetherness - who's going to drop and who's not and everything like that - so we've been working a lot, ironing out some issues and it feels much better."

Despite the win, Aalborg remain in sixth place, but now on even points with fourth place Randers FC and fifth place Odense BK.

Brøndby slipped below the relegation line to 11th, and their winless streak away from home now stands at 24.

Aalborg BK face a major challenge on Thursday evening when they travel to Genoa to face Sampdoria in the first round of the UEFA Cup. Their next league game is Sunday afternoon at Lyngby.

ASD's Three Stars
#1 Siyabonga Nomvethe
#2 Jeppe Curth
#3 Rade Prica

Scoring
AAB - Jeppe Curth 2 (Siyabonga Nomvethe) 14'
AAB - Siyabonga Nomvethe 3 (Jeppe Curth) 63'
AAB - Siyabonga Nomvethe 4 (Rade Prica) 70'

Line-ups
AAB - Karim Zaza; Michael Jakobsen, Martin Pedersen, Danny Califf, Andreas Johansson, Rade Prica, Jeppe Curth, Siyabonga Nomvethe (Ronnie Schwartz 86'), Allan Olesen, Kasper Risgaard (Mattias Lindström 85'), Thomas Enevoldsen (Thomas Augustinussen 46')

BIF - Stephan Andersen; Per Nielsen, Samuel Holmén (Mike Jensen 74'), Kasper Lorentzen (Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen 65'), Martin Ericsson, Peter Madsen (Martin Retov 74'), Stefan Gislason, Thomas Rasmussen, Chris Katongo, Anders Randrup, Jacob Bertelsen