Ben Gilby rounds up all the latest action in the Damallsvenskan and Elitettan with some big games played (3/5/22).
Above: Rosengård and Hammarby mount an aerial battle on Friday night. Photo: Hammarby.
DAMALLSVENSKAN:
Round Six kicked off on Friday night with Rosengård hosting a revived Hammarby at Malmö Idrottsplats in front of 1,225 fans. The match was of big interest to fans of Australian women’s football with the defending champions naming Teagan Micah in goal and Charli Grant on the bench. Hammarby fielded fellow Matildas star Courtney Nevin in their starting line-up.
The match burst into life with two goals in three minutes either side of the quarter hour mark. Stefanie Sanders put the hosts ahead, but the visitors hit back shortly afterwards thanks to Emilia Larsson’s equaliser. However, Olivia Schough restored Rosengård’s lead in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
Hammarby remained well in the match until the final exchanges. However, it then fell apart for them. Substitute Bea Sprung put the defending champions 3-1 up and another stoppage time goal from Schough clinched Rosengård’s win which keeps them top of the table.
AIK remain bottom after a 2-0 defeat at newly-promoted Umeå IK. The Solna-based side once more paid the price for a slow start. Two early for Umeå clinched the points. Emma Zingmark put the hosts ahead with just two minutes on the clock. The prolific Henna-Riikka Honkanen settled matters with just 17 minutes played to the delight of the 472 crowd.
BK Häcken’s title hopes hit a snag after they could only draw 0-0 at seventh-placed Vittsjö, who fielded both their Matildas stars Clare Polkinghorne and Katrina Gorry from the start.
The home side have proved to be very tough to beat this season with just one defeat in their opening games, although three of these have been drawn. The 607 home crowd would certainly have been the better pleased of the two sets of fans with this outcome.
Piteå took advantage of Häcken’s failure to win by going second just a single point behind leaders Rosengård after a 1-0 win at IF Brommapojkarna. The only goal came five minutes before the break when Katrina Guillou played in Hlin Eiríksdóttir to score.
Eskilstuna United moved up to fifth after edging IFK Kalmar 1-0 at Tunavallen. The only goal came just over 20 minutes into the second half. Noor Eckhoff provided the assist for Elin Rombing to score the winner to the delight of the crowd of 611.
Struggling Djurgården gained an impressive 1-0 win at home to a Kristianstads side who had started the season in good form. The visitors had only lost once all season and scored 10 goals in five games going into this encounter. The ever-impressive Tove Almqvist set up Stinalisa Johansson to score the only goal of the game three minutes before the break. This result is the perfect confidence boost for Djurgården as they travel to deadly rivals, rock bottom AIK next Sunday.
The final game of the round was played last night and Linköping maintained their strong start with a 1-0 win over KIF Örebro. The only goal came ten minutes from time thanks to Saori Takarada to the joy of the 516 crowd.
ROUND SEVEN FIXTURES: BK Häcken v Linköping, Hammarby v Vittsjö, Umeå IK v Rosengård, AIK v Djurgården, KIF Örebro v IFK Kalmar, Kristianstads v IF Brommapojkarna, Piteå v Eskilstuna United.
ELITETTAN
SELECTED MATCH DETAILS:
It’s as tight as a drum at the top of the Elitettan with the top three only separated by goal difference and fourth-placed Gamla Upsala only a further point behind.
Lidköpings FK went top on goal difference after a 3-0 win at newly-promoted Bergdalens IK. Tilde Ahlén opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour. It remained that way until the final stages when two goals in as many minutes at the denouement clinched top spot for the visitors. Jenny Stadin made it 2-0 with 89 on the clock. Ida Pettersson completed the scoring in stoppage time at the end of the game which was played in front of 129 spectators.
Växjö dropped down to second after being held 1-1 at home to Sundsvalls in front of 171 fans. Both goals came in a 10-minute spell after the fifteen-minute mark when Dessislava Dupay put the home side ahead. Olivia Wänglund levelled matters for Sundsvalls who are now in the chasing pack, just three points behind the leaders.
Alingsås FC United are third after a 1-1 draw at home to IK Uppsala. Nicole Robertson’s goal put the visitors ahead eight minutes into the second half. Stina Jensen’s strike seven minutes from the end delighted the majority of the 145 fans at Mjörnvallen Idrottsplats. Such is the tight nature of the top of the Elitettan table, had Uppsala remained in front, they would have gone top of the table themselves. Instead, they drop to fifth.
Their cross-city rivals Gamla Upsala continued their impressive start to life in the Elitettan after promotion following a 1-0 win over Mallbackens IF Sunne. Mathilda Henriksson scored the only goal with less than 15 minutes left in front of 205 fans.
Next week’s matches will be fascinating with four of the top five playing each other.
Full Results Round Five: Bergdalens IK 0-3 Lidköpings FK, Älvsjö AIK FF 0-1 Team TG FF, Alingsås FC United 1-1, Växjö 1-1 Sundsvalls, Rävåsens IK Karlskoga 0-2 Jitex BK, Ifö Bromölla IF 1-5 IFK Norrköping, Gamla Upsala SK 1-0 Mallbackens IF Sunne.
Round Six (Fixtures): IK Uppsala v Jitex BK, Team TG FF v Rävåsens IK Karlskoga, Alingsås FC United v Växjö, Bergdalens IK v Ifö Bromölla IF, Mallbackens IF Sunne v Älvsjö AIK FF, IFK Norrköping v Gamla Upsala SK, Lidköpings FK v Sundsvalls.
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