AALBORG, DENMARK - Aalborg BK took an important step in their championship campaign as they beat Randers FC 3-0 in front of a home crowd of 9,062 at Energi Nord Arena on Thursday evening.

Danny Califf played the full 90 minutes in Aalborg's central defense, while Lee Nguyen went the distance at right midfield for Randers. Will John did not dress for the visitors.

It was Randers who had the first chance of the game when a misunderstanding between Dutch defender Steve Olfers and Kenneth Stenild sent Fabio da Silveira one-on-one with the young keeper, but he mis-timed his first touch and the chance came to nothing.

After 13 minutes, a through ball was played to Kasper Risgård, but his square pass for Lasse Nilsson was cleared for a corner.

In the 24th minute, a cross from Andreas Johansson found Jeppe Curth's perfectly timed run, but Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard deflected it over the bar.

Califf latched on to the following corner, but his attempt went wide and his ensuing collision with Ralf Pedersen had both players briefly down for the count.

Just after the half hour mark, Nilsson received the ball inside the area. With no angle to shoot, the Swede laid it off to Risgård, who took the shot from the edge, but Stuhr-Ellegaard pulled off another good save.

AaB right back Allan Olesen had the final chance of the half with five minutes left. After a quick combination with Nilsson, he took a shot from a narrow angle, but the ball found the side netting.

The second half started with the same AaB dominance, and eight minutes into the half, a long free kick from Michael Jakobsen found Siyabonga Nomvethe at the far post, but his finish was cleared off the line by a defender.

The fans did not have to wait long for a goal, however. Two minutes later, Curth broke through the defensive lines and was brought down by Stuhr-Ellegaard as he tried to round the keeper. Referee Henrik Kragh had no doubt and Jakobsen executed from the spot.

The goal seemed to light a fire under Randers, and only five minutes later, a random ball fell to Kenneth Møller Pedersen, who sent a shot from the edge over the bar.

Twenty minutes into the half, the visitors were given a golden opportunity to equalize when Olfers brought down Marc Nygaard in the penalty area. Again, the referee had no doubt, but Stenild made light work of Møller Pedersen's spot kick.

"It was unfortunate," Nguyen told ASD after the game. "We could have tied it up with the PK. That was a big change right there, but it happens and it was tough to get back after that."

"There were a couple of chances here and there that we could have finished and could have come back."

Two minutes later, Nguyen found himself with an open chance in front of goal, but sent his shot well over the bar.

"The cross came in and then Marc (Nygaard) flicked it on," said Nguyen. "It bounced a little higher than I expected, but I should have finished it."

With 15 minutes left, Simon Bræmer replaced Nilsson for his first appearance of the season, and only seconds later, he headed a cross from Martin Pedersen just over the bar.

Randers still tried to come forward and a cross from Søren Berg in the 80th minute could have posed a threat, but Tidiane Sane's header was no problem for Stenild.

Instead, AaB extended the lead with nine minutes left when Curth received the ball from Olesen, turned and thundered it past Ellegaard.

The win was sealed only two minutes later when Bræmer was first to the rebound after Patrick Kristensen's shot and rewarded his coach's confidence.

"I think it was fantastic," a happy Califf told ASD. "I think we dominated from start to finish."

"We played with confidence and we played to win and not just playing not to lose. It's fantastic and I hope that we can build on this momentum."

With tonight's win, Aalborg BK tightened their grasp on the league's top spot. They now have seven points on FC Midtjylland and eight on Odense BK, who are now in third.

"We need to beat the teams in the lower half of the table," said Califf. "If you look at the rest of the schedule, I think we have at least three games with teams in the bottom six and if we take nine more points, there's no chance that they're going to catch us. It's pretty exciting, but it's still one game at a time."

Randers remain in eighth place - one point behind Esbjerg and ahead of Brøndby on goal difference. Aalborg hosts AC Horsens on Monday, while Randers' Sunday afternoon game is at home against Aarhus GF.

ASD's Three Stars
#1 Jeppe Curth
#2 Lasse Nilsson
#3 Kenneth Stenild

Scoring
AAB - Michael Jakobsen 3 (PK) 57'
AAB - Jeppe Curth 13 (Allan Olesen) 82'
AAB - Simon Bræmer 1 84'

Line-ups
AAB - Kenneth Stenild; Allan Olesen, Steve Olfers, Danny Califf, Michael Jakobsen, Andreas Johansson (Patrick Kristensen 84'), Kasper Risgård, Thomas Augustinussen, Siyabonga Nomvethe (Martin Pedersen 71'), Jeppe Curth, Lasse Nilsson (Simon Bræmer 77')

RAN - Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard; Jan Frederiksen, Ralf Pedersen, Robert Arzumanyan, Søren Pedersen, Carsten Fredgaard (Alain Behi 79'), Kenneth Møller Pedersen, Tidiane Sane, Lee Nguyen, Fabio da Silveira (Marc Nygaard 52'), Søren Berg