Damallsvenskan round 18: Umeå wins and secures 6 point lead

Umeå IK - LDB FC Malmö 2 - 0 (0-0)
Umeå: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund - Anna Paulsson, Karolina Westberg, Emma Berglund (82 June Pedersen), Maria Bergkvist - Lise Klaveness, Lisa Dahlqvist, Elaine - Ramona Bachmann (61 Hanna Ljungberg), Madelaine Edlund, Marta
Malmö: Thora Helgadottir - Therese Jönsson, Emma Wilhelmsson, Dora Stefansdottir, Lina Nilsson - Malin Levenstad, Therese Sjögran, Nilla Fischer, Emma Stålhammar (70 Nanna Johansen) - Therese Lundin, Manon Melis
Goals: 1-0 Lisa Dahlqvist (55), 2-0 Marta (89)
Attendance: 1,964
With the 2-0 defeat of Malmö, Umeå can see forward to the final matches after the World Cup with a lot of confidence - they will need to lose points in three of the four remaining matches to miss out on the championship.
Malmö's coach Jörgen Pettersson surprised by assigning his 18 year old defender Malin Levenstad to do man-marking on Marta. And particulary in the first half she was really successful. She managed to force Marta back or playing sideways instead of moving forward as usual. Umeå, in spite of having most of the possession, didn't manage to create much, their few finishes being shots from distance. The situation was new to both sides "Nobody has ever tried this before" commented Hanna Ljungberg and asked at halftime how it was marking Marta compared to others, Malin Levenstad answered "I have no idea, I've never done this before".
But even with some success in keeping tabs on Marta, I think Malmö suffered more from their tactics than Umeå did. Playing five in defense, they lost the midfield and couldn't support their attackers. They could keep the ball in Umeå's defensive half only short periods and with their power-draining defense play it was inevitable that Umeå should come through sooner or later. And when it happened, it was of course Marta who managed to escape her marker and set up Lisa Dahlqvist (playing great in a more offensive midfield role than usual) to score the leader.
Far too late in the game Malmö begun trying to push forward, but Umeå took advantage to score another, Marta zig-zagging through together with Hanna Ljungberg. Coach Jörgen Pettersson could just sigh after the match: "We did what we could. Umeå was simply better". And I think, even if Pettersson didn't want to go there, that missing injured Frida Nordin really hurt Malmö's offensive play.
Hanna Ljungberg replaced Ramona Bachmann to play the last half hour, her first match since the fatal European qualification match with the national team match against Hungary in June. She said she was very happy to return and also looked good on the field, contributing to Umeå's late 2-0 goal, cooperating nicely with Marta. But you could notice that she avoided those 50/50 situations with the keeper, that she would have rushed into before her injuries. "I'm less stupid nowadays", she commented.
Dagens Nyheter:
Umeå mot nytt SM-guld
Sydsvenskan: Gulddrömmen är över för Malmö
Aftonbladet: ?Jag har blivit mindre dum?
Expressen: "Vi ska inte tappa det här"


AIK - Linköpings FC 1 - 1 (0-1)
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Anna Bohlin (78 Madelene Göras), Frida Höglund, Sanna Valkonen, Linda Lekander - Camilla Ulander Nilsson (46 Sofia Simonsson) - Nazanin Vaseghpanah, Jessica Juhlin, Kacey White, Ingrid Bohlin - Laura Kalmari (86 Freja Egebrand)
Linköping: Hedvig Lindahl - Frida Östberg, Faith Ikidi, Charlotte Rohlin, Marie-Louise Skålberg - Ann Westermark (74 Maria Lindström), Caroline Seger, Sara Larsson (46 Petra Larsson), Maureen Mmadu - Maria Karlsson, Maria Aronsson (56 Kosovare Asllani)
Goals: 0-1 Maria Aronsson (41), 1-0 Linda Lekander (73)
Attendance: 208
AIK's confidence must have grown quite a bit after the inspired, albeity losing, effort against Umeå in the Swedish Cup final. Linköping took a predictable lead after dominating the first half (6-1 in shots at goal), but AIK once again came out more aggressive in the second. Knowing their strength they looked for set pieces and on one of their 5 second half corners, Linda Lekander (the same fullback that set up all AIK's thre goals in the cup final) managed to bend her corner-kick directly into goal. Linköping had several more promising chances, including three short in the wood-work, but AIK managed to hold on to the precious draw.
Linköping's World Cup player Sara Larsson was back on the pitch after her injury and was pleased with how her foot felt.
AIK: Lekanders hörnmål gav poäng
Linköping: Delad pott i Solna
Corren: "Jätteskönt att vara tillbaka"


Djurgården - Hammarby 1 - 0 (0-0)
Djurgården: Bente Nordby - Dorte Dalum Jensen, Jane Törnqvist, Therese Brogårde, Sara Thunebro - Elin Ekblom, Ariane Hingst, Ann-Marie Norlin, Linda Forsberg (87 Emma Lundh) - Kristin Bengtsson, Victoria Svensson
Hammarby: Kathrin Lehmann - Annica Svensson, Elin Sölveskog, Malin Nykvist, Anna Lindblom - Jennie Jonsson, Karolina Rinman - Marijke Callebaut, Louise Fors (73 Daniella Chamoun), Sara Johansson (76 Therese Sandström) - Jessica Landström,
Goals: 1-0 Emma Lundh (90)
Attendance: 1,212
A last minute goal by junior Emma Lundh (set up by Victoria Svensson, who else), only minutes after she got subbed in for Linda Forsberg, saved the day for Djurgården, keeping them in something that can be called striking distance from Umeå, at least if you're an optimistic Djurgården fan. Just like against in their match against Umeå recently, Hammarby showed their best side, hard working and organised. Young defender Anna Lindblom was successful against Djurgården's winger Elin Ekblom, moving most of Djurgården's attacking to their weaker left side.
Dagens Nyheter: Djurgården hänger på guldtåget


Falköpings KIK - Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC 0 - 3 (0-2)
Falköping: Malin Andersson - Nettan Hofling, Elin Osbeck, Emma Eriksson (82 Madeleine Tegström), Sandra Krantz, Camilla Sanderheim (75 Rebecka Blennow), Sofia Fröjdstedt, Cynthia Uwak, Jill Oakes, Erin Ramsay, Linnea Liljegärd (88 Therese Larsson)
Göteborg: Sandra Bjurteg - Marlene Sjöberg (53 Sofia Karlsson), Jenny Engwall, Maria Nilsson, Maria Karlsson - Sofie Andersson (84 Lisa Ek), Salina Olsson, Ingvild Stensland, Emelie Farfa - Lotta Schelin, Sara Lindén (90 Frida Svensson),
Goals: 0-1 Ingvild Stansland (43), 0-2 Lotta Schelin (45), 0-3 Salina Olsson (78)
Attendance: 710
Falköping can be hard to defeat at home, but after goals by stars Stensland and Schelin late in the first half, the match was decided. For Falköping this was still a step forward compared to the 5-1 beating in their spring meeting and late signing Jill Oakes has been a boost for their midfield. But I can still not see what could save last place Falköping from relegation.
Göteborgsposten: VM i Kina -nästa för Schelin
SVT: Schelin längtar till VM (video with Lotta Schelin interview and match clips)


Qbik - Kif Örebro 1 - 2 (1-1)
Qbik: Maria Yatrakis - Ifeoma Dieke (52 Jennifer Meier), Anna Nilsson, Lisa Mellberg, Jenny Hallstenson, Rebecca Johnson (46 Julia Spetsmark), Therése Lückner, Amelie Rybäck, Charlotte Nygren (66 Sanna Backman), Therése Björk, Lovisa Ericsson
Örebro:
Kristin Hammarström - Ingrid Ericson, Stina Segerström, Lena Andersson, Marie Hammarström, Keeley Dowling, Pavlina Scasna, Caroline Näfver, Elin Magnusson, Marina Pettersson, Hanna Pettersson (67 Elin Rydberg)
Goals:
1-0 Rebecca Johnson (31), 1-1 Pavlina Scasna (36), 1-2 Elin Magnusson (59)
Attendance:
483
After five goalless matches, Qbik got the longed for goal on a quick counter-attack , Rebecca Johnson heading in the return from Anna Nilsson's shot. But Örebro was stronger and Pavlina Scasna could create a goal almost on her own only five minutes later. Early in the second half Örebro exploited a misyunderstanding between Qbik's midfielders and could take the lead. Qbik tried to get an equaliser, but had problems creating scoring opportunities and Örebro, testing Qbik's keeper Maria Yatrakis sevreral times, won a deserved victory.
Örebro's Holmlund wasn't entirely pleased with what his team managed "but we won, and that's what counts" and thought Scasna ought to have scored more with the chances she got, "but Qbik had a fantastic goalkeeper". Qbik's Jansson has started counting points to escape relegation: "We need to defeat Hammarby and Falköping and take a point from either Malmö or Göteborg". A tall order.
Värmlands Folkblad: Måltorkan över - ändå ny Qbikförlust
Nya Wermlandstidningen: Mål ? men nu ser det mörkt ut, Qbik
Nerikes Allehanda: Magnusson sköt KIF Örebro till seger


Sunnanå SK - Bälinge 1 - 0 (0-0)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren, Hanna Marklund, Mirjam Marklund (90 Johanna Lindahl), Alexandra Nilsson - Maria Nordbrandt (67 Rebecca Smith), Anna Bodén, Josefin Johansson, Kristina Wiklund (88 Sanna Frostevall) - Lina Johansson, Perpetua Nkwocha,
Bälinge: Maja Åström - Linda Sembrant, Lina Andersson, Nina Engström, Annette Kent, Malin Ericsson (70 Linda Blom), Alexandra Höglund (69 Lisa Lantz), Emma Lindqvist, Moa Eriksson, Katri Nokso-Koivisto (81 Julia Lyckberg), Anne Mäkinen
Goals: 1-0 Own goal (76)
Attendance: 1,074
Sunnanå showed already from srart which was the strongest side and had most of the possession while Bälinge had big problems even getting into Sunnanå's defensive half. Perpetua Nkwocha kept Bälinge's defense busy, but Sunnanå still had unexpected problems creating any real scoring chances. A hard working Bälinge managed to fend off Sunnanå until the 15 minutes from the end, when a botched attempt to clear a Perpetua Nkwocha cross ended up in an own goal. Anna Bodén and Josefin Johansson helped Sunnanå dominate the midfield while goalkeeper Maja Åström saved Bälinge from a much bigger defeat.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Självmål sänkte Bälinge
Norra Västerbotten: Självmål räddade Sunnanå


Comments
Posted by: drew

were you at the djurgården game?
i almost died...seriously!!!
what a great game!

2007-08-23 @ 21:27:09

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