Back page It was another eventful week in the Swedish Allsvenskan, with a manager change at Malmo, controversy for Orebro, and delight for Hacken as they put five past Elfsborg in Game Week Eight.
The action kicked-off on Saturday where Sundsvall looked to continue their strong start to the season at home Brommapojkarna. ‘BP’ had endured a tough start to life in the Allsvenskan, and it continued at Sundsvall where a brace from Linus Hallenius and a thunderbolt from Peter Wilson sealed an easy 3-0 victory.
Hallenius’ first came after half an hour and it was courtesy of a long thrown-in from Samuel Reyes which fell at his feet inside the box, catching much of the BP defence off-guard. The striker turned and shot on the half-volley, finding the back of the net.
His second came just five minutes later when he rounded keeper Nikola Petric, who’s frustration showed when Wilson rifled home a third ten minutes after the restart. It was Sundsvall’s third win in five with just the one loss so far this season, as for BP though, their poor form away from home continues as they rack up their fifth defeat in six games.
Also struggling to get off the mark this season are Dalkurd, who host the second relegation spot after defeat to Djurgardens on Sunday, and only one win all season.
Tino Kadawere got the only goal of the game in the second half after both had rattled the woodwork throughout the first. The Zimbabwean striker finished a slick Djurgardens move to claim his sides first win in four league games since they beat Malmo 3-0 last month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=294V_BolhMc
As for Malmo though, their 1-0 loss at Trelleborgs on Sunday was probably the story of the weekend, and it lead to the sacking of manager Magnus Pehrsson just eight games into both the season and his Malmo career.
The reigning Swedish champions have won just three games all season and have now lost three successive games away from home. They had dominated Trelleborgs, who are now out of the relegation zone win two wins in three, for most of the game but again failed to find the back of the net.
The win was there for the taking though and it was Trelleborgs who took it, when Danish defender Lasse Nielsen stole the points with a 90th minute goal. The defeat was Malmo fourth of the season, and after an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Djurgardens in the Swedish Cup Final last Friday, the board and its directors decided a change was needed before the season was too far gone.
Taking over as head coach is Malmo’s former director of sports, player and 74-capped Swede Daniel Andersson, who spoke to the press on Monday following his appointment:
We have been in a tough situation. Now, we will make sure to reverse the negative trend as quickly as possible. We have three matches in front of us before the break where it comes to getting results. That challenge begins in Stockholm on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Sweden on Sunday, Hammarby and Norrkoping found themselves three points, as the race for the title is already beginning to take shape.
Goteborg are sitting strong in the mid-table position after a tough run of games against AIK, Hacken, Malmo and now Norrkoping – winning the middle two. Though they came up against a Norrkoping side who are notirously hard to breach, and after a strong penalty claim was dismissed just before half time, Goteborg found themselves behind just after the restart.
Karl Holmberg tapped into an almost empty net when young Linus Wahlqvist fired a low ball across the Goteborg box. Goteborgs young manager Poya Asbaghi was still lamenting about his sides first half penalty shout when Norrkoping found their second goal, five minutes into the four added minutes at the end of the second half, but the victory leaves Norrkoping in third, still six points behind leaders Hammarby.
Hammarby travelled to Orebro in what was a tough test of their ability against a team who went into the game unbeaten, and on the back of three straight wins. Orebro took the lead early on when experienced Allsvenskan striker Kennedy Igboananike pounced on the rebounded ball. But the Nigerian was shown a straight red before half time.
As both sets of players battled for possession infront of the dugouts, the referee blew his whistle for a foul before revealing an outrageous red card for Igboananike. See if you can spot what the red card was for in the video below:
With the man advantage in the second half, it was time for Hammarby’s fearsome front three of Khalili, Hamad and Djurdic to do some damage. The latter found the equaliser five minutes into the second half when the tall striker was left unmarked at the back post.
Hamad got the second and his sixth of the season when he curled the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards, sealing the victory for the league leaders who are now three points clear of AIK in second and with a game in hand.
AIK featured in one of Monday’s three fixtures, hosting Graham Potter’s Ostersunds. It was another frustrating draw for AIK who were last week held to a 0-0 draw at Elfsborg, but they remain unbeaten this season with five wins and four draws.
As for Ostersunds, it is a well-fought point.
Potter’s men had a slow start to this season but have quickly found their footing, going three games unbeaten away from home.
Mondays show was stolen by Hacken though, who put five past an Elfsborg side who find themselves in the relegation play-off spot after no win in four. An own goal kicked things off in Gothernburg, before goals from Alexander Faltsetas, Paulinho and Alhassan Kamara added to another own goal and this time from Stefan Ishizaki.
There’s plenty of Allsvenskan action this month, and the league looks to tie things up before the month-long break for the World Cup. Hammarby host Andersson’s Malmo on Wednesday night, before welcoming AIK on the Sunday.
Sundsvall are looking to climb further up the table when they host their Northern rivals Ostersunds on Saturday. Malmo are back in the frame on Sunday too, where they face Hacken at the Malmo Stadion.
