AALBORG, DENMARK - Danny Califf and Aalborg BK seem back on track as they recorded their third straight win with a 2-1 home result against FC Nordsjælland on Monday evening in front of 5,601 spectators.

AaB came out looking putting on the pressure from the beginning. Three minutes in, Andreas Johansson played a short ball to Thomas Enevoldsen, who took the shot from the edge of the area, but Kim Christensen diverted it over for a corner.

Three minutes later, the hosts came close again. Siyabonga Nomvethe played the ball in to Rade Prica, who passed it on to Johansson. The Swedish midfielder took the shot; again Christensen tipped over, even as the linesman raised his flag for offside.

After a positive beginning for the hosts, lightning struck after eight minutes when a long ball was headed from midfield up to Martin Bernburg. Califf failed to step up for the offside trap and Bernburg was left alone with Karim Zaza. The initial lob over the keeper hit the crossbar, but on the rebound in front of an empty net, Bernburg made no mistake.

"I wasn't trying to pull him offside," Califf explained after the game. "I was covering Allan (Olesen) for the ball in behind. He put it to the side of me and Michael (Jacobsen) wasn't with me on the same page and the guy got through."

The goal had the Aalborg defense shaken, and in the next minute, Bernburg moved into the penalty area again. He sent in a cross from the right edge of the box, but Bo Storm narrowly missed the diving header.

Another minute passed before Storm took his chances from outside the box, but Zaza made an easy save.

The hosts managed to shake off the shock and started to take more possession, but they were constantly under pressure from defenders resulting in a lot of poor passing and little in the way of chances.

The game was 21 minutes old when Aalborg came close again. Jeppe Curth sent in a cross from the right and Prica put his head to it. but the attempt went straight at Christensen.

The hosts continued to come forward, however, and an equalizer seemed imminent. It came after 31 minutes when Martin Pedersen took a corner on the right. Curth rose above the defense and headed the ball into the far side of the net.

The rest of the half was one-way traffic toward the Nordsjælland goal, but chances were scarce. Nomvethe tried a volley from the edge of the area with a minute to go of the half, his attempt flying just over the crossbar.

The second half began as the first had ended. Only one minute in,  Prica tried from outside the box, but sent it just wide.

Six minutes later, Prica came close when Pedersen sent a long ball into the area, but his header was straight at Christensen.

Pedersen sent in another corner in the 59th minute. The defense struggled with the clearance, which in the end fell to Jacobsen, but his shot went over the bar.

FCN had very little in the way of chances in the second half. Bernburg had a free kick opportunity 20 minutes in, but sent it wide of the goal.

Four minutes later, a long ball came forward to Curth who took the shot, but Christensen managed to control the ball.

Aalborg's pressure wore off and the guests began to come forward a little, but still without creating chances. With 15 minutes to go, it started to look like a draw.

Aalborg had different plans, however, and with 12 minutes to go, Thomas Augustinussen, who had replaced Kasper Risgaard 12 minutes earlier, sent a through ball to Curth. His shot was saved, but Prica was first to the rebound and made no mistake.

Nordsjælland spent the final minutes looking for the equalizer, but could not break through the home defense.

The final opportunity of the game came in injury time when Enevoldsen broke through on a counter, but Christensen made another save.

"I couldn't pass the ball from A to B, but we got it done defensively," a pleased Califf told American Soccer Daily. "I think we were pretty strong after the first ten minutes."

"We were dangerous. We created a lot of chances. I can't help but be happy."

Aalborg head into the international break on a winning streak, but the captain is not worried about it breaking their rhythm.

"I think it's good," he said. "We've had a lot of games in a short amount of time and you got to get away from football a little bit and try to get your mind right and get ready for the rest of the season."

The win sends AaB to sixth place before the international break. They face a wounded Brøndby side at home on September 16th.

Scoring
FCN - Martin Bernburg 2 8'
AAB - Jeppe Curth 1 (Martin Pedersen) 31'
AAB - Rade Prica 4 (Jeppe Curth) 78'

Line-ups
AAB - Karim Zaza; Michael Jacobsen, Martin Pedersen, Danny Califf, Andreas Johansson, Rade Prica, Jeppe Curth (Jens-Kristian Sørensen 84'), Siyabonga Nomvethe (Mattias Lindström 46'), Allan Olesen, Kasper Risgaard (Thomas Augustinussen 65'), Thomas Enevoldsen

FCN - Kim Christensen; Michael Ribers, Dennis Cagara, Johnny Lundberg, Morten Karlsen, Allan Olesen, Martin Bernburg (Marcus Pode 76'), Issey Farran (Nicklas Pedersen 81'), Bo Storm, Bajram Fetai, Søren Christensen (Henrik Bødker 87')