Jacobsen-inspired AaB stun Dinamo

Aalborg BK achieved an outstanding result in Croatia as Anders Jacobsen's double helped overturn a first-leg deficit against GNK Dinamo Zagreb and put the Danish side into the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

Few would have backed Kent Nielsen's side after a 1-0 defeat on home turf last week, but when Jacobsen coolly leveled the tie on 36 minutes, the visitors sensed an upset. The No18 repeated the dose with five minutes remaining, scoring his side's second with only their second shot on target, to shock the Stadion Maksimir and give the AaB fans hope of repeating their 2008/09 group stage adventure.

It was Dinamo who dominated possession from the off, controlling the pace off the game but finding it hard to create chances against dogged and well-organised visitors. They did craft two openings in the first half-hour as Paulo Machado and Marcelo Brozović were both denied by AaB goalkeeper Nicolai Larsen, but it was the visitors who proved the more efficient in front of goal. Jacobsen was released with a perfectly-weighted pass and he made no mistake when clean through with Eduardo.

After the restart, Paolo Machado missed three openings in quick succession as Dinamo piled on the pressure, but with no goal forthcoming the game looked destined for extra-time. That never arrived however, as Jacobsen again timed his run to perfection to ghost between home defenders and slot in the decisive goal, which ensures AaB join fellow Danish club FC København in Friday's draw.