ESL One Cologne 2019Astralis clinch semi-final spot over NiP in two-map series
Astralis beat Ninjas in Pyjamas on Dust2 (19-16) and Inferno (16-8) to secure a spot in the ESL One Cologne semi-finals, which are slated to take place on Saturday at the LANXESS Arena.
The match between Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas started off on Dust2, with the Swedes taking the lead on the attacking side. A triple with the SSG 08 by Nicolai "device" Reedtz helped the Danes get a win on the forcebuy, as Astralis went on to dominate the half on the CT side. It wasn’t until they were down 1-7 that Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to get back on the board as Astralis called a save in a 4vs3 afterplant for the Swedes. Astralis remained dominant as Ninjas in Pyjamas only got one last round in the half thanks to a four-kill round by Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund.
Ninjas in Pyjamas took the second pistol round, and were able to win the anti-forcebuy as well. After winning the anti-eco, Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson got the opening kill on Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen with the AWP on the first gun round, and the Swedes were able to keep the match alive, 7-13. Just as Astralis had dominated the first half, it was now the Ninjas that were in complete control. The Danish side were able to get on the board thanks to doubles by Emil "Magisk" Reif and device, but Ninjas in Pyjamas kept the comeback alive winning the following round. Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg kept Ninjas in Pyjamas alive after Astralis took map point, winning a 1vs2 afterplant on A to keep the match going. The map then went into Dust2 as Ninjas in Pyjamas won the two remaining rounds in regulation.
The first round of OT went to Astralis, who were able to win the half on the attacking side, 17-16, before getting on match point on the defense as dupreeh closed out the first round of the second half with three AWP kills. The Danes then closed the map out, 19-16, to take the lead into their pick, Inferno.
The second map of the series kicked off with three UPS-S kills by Nicolas "Plopski" Gonzalez Zamora defending the B site to give Ninjas in Pyjamas the first round. The Swedes were then able to win the second round, but their lead would not last passed that as Astralis took the reins of the map and controlled the tempo, only giving up two more rounds before the end of the half, which they were able to win with an ample 11-4 scoreline.
The second pistol round started with Fredrik "REZ" Sterner getting an opening kill on Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander, but Magisk was able to win a 1vs1 against f0rest to keep his team in the lead. After winning against the forcebuy and an eco, the Danes went up 14-4. The first gun round once again saw REZ open the round with a frag on Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth and after trading players on B, Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to rotate back to the A site and win a 3vs1 afterplant situation.
The Ninjas were then able to win a few rounds to pad the stats, but with 14-8 on the board Astralis were able to win a 3vs2 afterplant situation on B to get on match point before going on to close out the map and series to secure a spot in the ESL One Cologne semi-finals.
 Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 - 31 | +19 | 85.6 | 88.1% | 1.32 | |
| 47 - 32 | +15 | 86.9 | 78.0% | 1.32 | |
| 44 - 34 | +10 | 79.4 | 66.1% | 1.15 | |
| 39 - 36 | +3 | 72.6 | 69.5% | 1.11 | |
| 33 - 40 | -7 | 68.3 | 62.7% | 0.92 |
 Ninjas in Pyjamas |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 - 42 | -7 | 77.6 | 67.8% | 0.97 | |
| 39 - 43 | -4 | 71.0 | 61.0% | 0.96 | |
| 38 - 39 | -1 | 60.5 | 62.7% | 0.90 | |
| 31 - 42 | -11 | 62.0 | 59.3% | 0.79 | |
| 29 - 48 | -19 | 67.5 | 54.2% | 0.77 |
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora
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