Randers FC were not allowed to get in the way of FC Midtjylland's chase for metal and were sent home from SAS Arena with a 2-1 loss in front of 7,514 spectators on Wednesday evening.

Lee Nguyen gave a fair account of himself as he replaced Jeppe Brandrup at right midfield for the final 30 minutes of the game. Will John was not on Randers' game roster.

Despite their underdog status, it was Randers who started of best and Marc Nygaard was given enough space to move infield and fire a low drive into the net after 11 minutes.

The lead lasted only nine minutes before Christopher Poulsen picked up a clearance and smashed a 30-yard missile into the top left corner for the equalizer.

The second half had barely started when a long pass sent Leon Jessen one-on-one with Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard to bring Midtjylland up 2-1.

Randers tried hard to come back in the game but attempts from Nygaard, Tidiane Sane and Søren Bergall each went wanting.

Nguyen made the final effort of the game when he raided up the middle, but his shot was not hit well and bobbled past the post.

Randers remain in ninth place, two points behind Esbjerg and Brøndby. They host FC Nordsjælland on Monday afternoon.

Scoring
RAN - Marc Nygaard 5 12'
FCM - Christopher Poulsen 1 20'
FCM - Leon Jessen 1 46'

Line-ups
FCM - Lasse Heinze; Kolja Afriyie, Frank Kristensen, Simon Kjær, Christopher Poulsen, Dennis Flinta, Gheorghe Florescu, Ajilore Oluwafemi (Leon Jessen 38'), Petter Furuseth Olsen (Adeola Lanre Runsewe 62'), Mikkel Thygesen (Jude Ikechukwu Nworuh 34'), Ken Fagerberg

RAN - Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard; Søren Pedersen, Kian Christensen, Søren Holdgaard, Jan Frederiksen, Jeppe Brandrup (Lee Nguyen 60'), Kenneth Møller Pedersen, Tidiane Sane (Bédi Buval 83'), Carsten Fredgaard, Marc Nygaard, Søren Berg

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ON THE SIDELINE
Esbjerg fB backup keeper Tally Hall watched from the bench as his team took home a 1-1 away draw against Odense BK on Wednesday evening.

Robbie Russell was not on the game roster for Viborg FF's 1-1 away draw against Brøndby on Wednesday evening.