Utaka comes good as OB edge past Wisła

Peter Utaka made amends for a host of missed chances with the decisive goal as Odense BK claimed an impressive UEFA Europa League Group K victory against Wisła Kraków.

The Nigeria striker's radar was off all evening at the the Stadion Miejski, a catalogue of snatched opportunities and offside decisions. Yet when it mattered most he homed in on his target ten minutes from time, restoring an advantage the visitors had deservedly claimed through Andreas Johansson on 35 minutes before Andraž Kirm equalised at the start of the second period. Substitute Rasmus Falk made it 3-1 late on.

Utaka, younger brother of John, ought to have been on the scoresheet 70 minutes earlier when, amid a promising start from OB, he escaped his marker before glancing a header too finely. It took a desperate intervention from Michael Lamey to deny Johansson soon after; it was all too easy.

A chink of light appeared for the home fans when Stefan Wessels was brought scurrying off his line to block on the edge of the box before the half-hour, but that quickly disappeared. Sergei Pareiko pulled off a stunning reflex save to keep out a deflected Utaka effort, but could do nothing when Johansson collected Chris Sørensen's pass seconds later.

It was more of the same either side of the interval when, from nowhere, Wisła fashioned an equaliser. Maor Melikson provided the brawn with a run through the middle which David Biton intelligently took off his toes to find Kirm in space on the edge of the box. There was less to celebrate about the goalkeeping as Wessels allowed a weak shot to squirm beneath him.

It sparked an absorbing, end-to-end spell. OB began peppering Pareiko's goal, Biton fired a golden chance straight at Wessels before Utaka had an effort chalked off for offside – him, inevitably. He atoned within two minutes, lashing in from close range after Tore Reginiussen's header across goal following a free-kick. Falk rounded things off on the break in added time.