Damallsvenskan Newsblog

The Women's Cup final against Frankfurt was probably from a football point of view Umeå's finest hours - they defeated Frankfurt 8-0 over the two matches, but it took a great toll on the club, both financially (a home final would have been a big money-maker) and on the management. The 2004-2005 season Umeå was eliminated already in the quarter-finals by Djurgården, a club that just like Danish Brøndby never had any qualms about playing on field turf. And after the UEFA decision this week nobody else should for the next three years.

Västerbottenskuriren: Gammlias konstgräs äntligen godkänt
Västerbottenskuriren: Ett fem år långt helvete i plast


Since nobody took the bait last time I tried to make a funny reference in the title, I don't expect anyone to do now either. But I love comments.

Linköping showed more will and determination and their speedy forwards, not the least Josefine Öqvist on the right wing, created more work for Sofia Lundgren in Umeå's goal than she usually gets in a couple of matches. Öqvist, who didn't impress against Djurgården last weekend, seemed much more at ease against meå's defense. Milbrett, in an offensive midfield position, showed vision and creativity.
Umeå, on the other hand, played at their best calm and safe, at their worst slow and inefficient. Linköping's new centre defense composition Charlotte Rohlin-Frida Östberg, where Rohlin impressed most, contained Hanna Ljungberg and made her seem rather unthreatening. Umeå's usually well working 4-3-3 this time left Ljungberg alone in the centre, to far away from both the wingers and the midfield. Marta's absence from Umeå's attack (yellow card suspension) was very visible. Some time into the second half Umeå substituted Lisa Dahlqvist for Elaine and changed to a 4-4-2, putting Klaveness together with Ljungberg. It still didn't change the picture much.
But in spite of creating much more forward than Umeå, Linköping never managed to break Sofia Eriksson's shut-out. Instead Umeå, in the 3rd minute of extra-time, was awarded a free-kick as Linköping's Rohlin for once was more harsh against Hanna Ljungberg than the situation called for. Anne Mäkinen took a long shot against the far post, where a completely unmarked Maria Bergkvist could score the winner for Umeå.
Linköping's Josefine Öqvist, in my opinion up til then one of their most usefull player, were some 20 minutes into the second half substituted for (as usual) Ann Westermark. She was visibly unhappy with being brought off the field and that's gold worth for any TV reporter waiting on the side-line. Josefine said some well (or maybe not that well) chosen words about her coach's decision. Coach Karlsson commented, somewhat irritated, "You couldn't have waited two minutes for her to calm down?"
Corren: Grym förlust på övertid för LFC
Expressen: Öqvist sågade sin tränare - i direktsändning
Västerbottens Folkblad: Bergkvist räddade UIK i sista minuten
Västerbottenskuriren: UIK reste sig i sista stund

Mallbacken IF - Malmö FF  0 - 2 (0-1)
Mallbacken:
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Emma Wilhelmsson, Malin Levenstad, Jenny Engwall - Nanna Johansen (70 Emma Stålhammar), Therese Sjögran, Nilla Fischer, Frida Nordin - Therese Lundin (87 Lina Nilsson), Ásthildur Helgadóttir
Goals: 0-1 Asthildur Helgadottir (20), 0-2 Asthildur Helgadottir (58)
Attendance: 761
It was pay-back time for Malmö, who suffered a 0-1 loss to Mallbacken in their home leg this season. They started fast, controlled the game and soon enough took the lead, Asthildur Helgadottir exploiting a defensive mistake from Mallbacken. But Mallbacken hadn't given up. After the half-time they came back more offensive with more speed and more players higher up in the field. This however made then vulnerable to counters and Malmö's speedy winger Nanna Johansen could give Asthildur Helgadottir a perfect cross to head in goal.
Sydsvenskan: Enkel revansch för MFF mot Mallbacken
Värmlands Folkblad: Ett nummer för litet

Sunnanå had a weak start, creating almost nothing forward. Hammarby dominated the first half, but had problems getting past Sunnanå's defense with Hanna Marklund in their attempts to reach Sara Johansson. Finally, in the 45th minute, their work paid off as Lollo Fors dribbled through Sunnanå's defense on the left side and finished with cross to the forward-rushing Sara Johansson, who headed in 1-0.
Something must have been said at half-time in Sunnanå's locker-room, because they looked much better in the second half. After only a few minutes their attacks had resulted in a corner-kick, where Maria Nordbrandt could score from a rebound. The more time passed, the more careful the teams played, seemingly more anxious to keep the point they ahd than eager to earn another one.
Hammarby
Norra Västerbotten:  Femte raka utan förlust

 

Jitex BK - Bälinge IF  1 - 1 (1-1)
Jitex: Kristin Luckenbill - Jenny Ringquist, Amelie Rybeck, Emma Herbring, Caroline Lindblad - Therese Björk, Malin Normelli, Leah Robinson, Therese Bjurenlind (85 Kajsa Tornfalk) - Katie Eriksson, Sara Sjöstedt (57 Sofia Skog)
Bälinge: Maja Åström - Karolina Mats, Fanta Cooper, Lina Andersson, Nera Smajic - Linda Sembrant, Mikaela Björklund (65 Mona Najib), Julianne Sitch (89 Anna Bergendahl) - Minna Mustonen (80 Michaela Bengtsson), Emma Lindqvist, Kacey White
Goals: 1-0 Katie Eriksson (18), 1-1 Minna Mustonen (22)
Attendance: 166

Ater five defeats in a row, Jitex managed to get a point and, at least temporarly, move out of the relegation zone. But the match was a lot about two teams without much self-confidence. After the two early goals - Jitex Katie Eriksson heading in a corner-kick from Therese Björk and Bälinge's Minna Mustonen converting a great Kacey White pass - the first half was uneventfull. The home side started to get the upper hand in the second half, but their attacks never resulted in anything more than forcing Maja Åström ion Bälinge's goal to a couple of good saves.
Upsala Nya Tidning:  Ingen seger för Bälinge
Göteborgsposten: En poäng för Jitex i bottenmöte
 

KIF Örebro - Djurgården/Älvsjö  2 - 2  (1-1)
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Ingrid Ericson, Stina Segerström, Keeley Dowling, Caroline Näfver - Lena Andersson, Marie Hammarström, Hodan Siid-Ahmed (66 Sandra Persson), Elin Magnusson - Emelia Erixon, Pavlina Scasna
Djurgården:  Bente Nordby - Kristin Bengtsson, Jane Törnqvist, Therese Brogårde, Sara Thunebro - Linda Fagerström, Katrine Pedersen (79 Mimmi Nordlander-Andersson), Anna Hall, Dorte Dalum Jensen (46 Anne-Marie Norlin) - Victoria Svensson, Elin Ekblom
Goals: 1-0 Keeley Dowling (28), 1-1 Victoria Svensson (36), 2-1 Keeley Dowling (76), 2-2 Victoria Svensson (80)
Attendance: 854

Player of the match, two goals and Keeley Dowling was still disappointed. She failed to clear a ball when Örebro was 2-1 up and the always dangerous Victoria Svensson caught the opportunity and scored. "It feels really bitter when we were so close. We had a lot of opportunities and should have won the match."
Örebro had a really good day, great team-work, hard working defense and a lot of passes findning forwards Scasna and Erixon. 13 shots on goal against Djurgården's 6, a missed penalty kick and Dowling's 86th minute header in the woodwork shows which team was closest to victory.
Örebro began to pressure Djurgården's defense already from the beginning, Pavlina Scasna in a key role. Djurgården's Nordby, Törnqvist and Brogårde worked hard to keep clean, but Örebro created dangerous set pieces. Dowling headed both her two goals when she was unmarked on corner kicks. Djurgården had problems recreating the flow in their attacking game from last weekend, but Victoria Svensson, still in great form, took good care of what was created. 
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF Örebro kryssade med mersmak, pictures
Djurgården: Oavgjort i Örebro
 

Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC - Qbik  3 - 1  (2-1)
Göteborg: Maria Edman - Maria Nilsson, Sofia Dammström, Frida Höglund, Marlene Sjöberg - Camillas Schelin (61 Rebecca Ljungdahl), Jessica Julin, Sara Lindén (87 Sofie Andersson), Emmelie Farfa (74 Frida Thydén) - Salina Olsson, Lotta Schelin
Qbik:
Goals: 1-0 Jessica Julin (37), 1-1 Jennifer Meier (39), 2-1 Lotta Schelin (40), 3-1 Salina Olsson (81)
Attendance: 257
It should have been an easy win for Göteborg, at least on paper, but Qbik is a better team than their position in the league indicates. The first 30 minutes showed good play from both sides and Qbik didn't at all look like a weaker side. But when an unmarked Jessica Julin could score from a free-kick and Lotta Schelin could steal a failed backpass and put in in  goal, Jennifer Meier short-lived equaliser didn't help much. As the second half went on, Qbik lost some of their momentum and Salina Olsson could seal the win for Göteborg with 10 minutes remaining. Still, Qbik's coach Jan Svensson thinks it's looking good for the crucial match against Jitex next weekend. "We're playing good now, we just have to take better care of our goal chances and take better care in defense."
Värmlands Folkblad: Bra spel men inga Qbik-poäng
Göteborgsposten: Säker seger för Göteborg

Jitex BK - Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC  1 - 4 (0-3)
Goals: 0-1 Lotta Schelin (18), 0-2 Lotta Schelin (26), 0-3 Lotta Schelin (40), 0-4 Emmelie Farfa (47), 1-4 Katie Eriksson (50)  
Lotta Schelin continues to impress and made a hat trick in only 22 minutes to seal the victory already in the first half. Even if Jitex got an early second half goal, they never managed to threaten Göteborg.
Damfotboll.com: Sjöberg bäst på plan! Jitex ett nummer för litet


Linköpings FC - Djurgården/Älvsjö  3 - 1 (2-0)
Goals: 1-0 Maria Aronsson (11), 2-0 Josefine Öqvist (30), 3-0 Tiffeny Milbrett (57), 3-1 Sofia Simonsson (90)
In only a few days Linköping managed to change the picture completely. They had made big changes in their set-up for the Wednesday night Swedish Cup match; Rantanen as right back, Östberg and Milbrett in midfield and, after a surprisingly fast recovery, Hedvig Lindahl back in goal. She had been told by her doctor that there was a 80-20 chance that her groin would be ok, and she decided to play.
Linköping seemed set to show that they are better than they showed in their 6-2 loss last weekend and started with speed and determination and pretty soon had a firm grip on the match. Djurgården on the other hand seemed taken by Linköping's transformation and had one of those it's-really-hard-to-tell-if -they-care-at-all performances.
Corren: Lindahls chansning gick hem
Djurgården: Platt fall i cupkvarten


Umeå IK - Sunnanå SK  3 - 0 (1-0)
Goals: 1-0 Lise Kleveness (35), 2-0 Lise Klaveness (75), 3-0 Malin Moström (88 PK)      
Attendance: 353

Umeå players were less than happy with Sunnanå, that showed up without 6 of their usual starters. "This is a competition match, they shopuld use their best team", said Umeå's Klaveness, "This is like they're not even trying to win". Umeå very rarely let Sunnanå borrow the ball, but once again this season showed their problems scoring against teams using deep defense.
Norran:  Umeås mål fick Kega att se rött
Västerbottens Folkblad: Klaveness klippte till och kritiserade Sunnanå

Västerbottenskuriren: Bara 353 såg UIK vinna

Hammarby IF - KIF Örebro  1 - 2 (1-0)
Goals: 1-0 Sara Johansson (6), 1-1 Louise Östman (69), 1-2 Pavlina Scasna (82)
Örebro's coach Pia Sundhage decided to go with an offensive 4-3-3 at Hammarby, but the team ran into trouble almost alreday from start, when Sara Johansson put Hammarby ahead. Örebro had problems getting their play together until they some time into second half subbed in Lena Andersson in midfield and their passes started reaching the targets. Östman equalised and Scasna, who has became almost invaluable for Örebro, once again scored a winner.
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF-vändning bar till semifinal

The semifinals will be played October 4 with Kopparbergs/Göteborg at Linköping and KIF Örebro at Umeå.

Two teams in dire need for points fought it out on a rain-wet and heavy pitch - not the prettiest football you can imagine. Emma Lindqvist gave Bälinge their first goal for more than 400 minutes, beautifully set up be Kacey White, but Qbik's Mmadu could equalise with a flying header from Jennifer Meier's cross. Bälinge's Mustonen and Sitch both had really good chances to retake the lead, but Qbik's Maria Yatrakis in goal made a couple of great saves. Yatrakis, who was benched her first matches with the club, now played her second in Qbik's goal and might become a key player for her team, thinks coach Kjell Petersson.
Värmlands Folkblad: Yatrakis tippade Qbik över strecket


Malmö FF - Hammarby  1 - 1 (1-0)
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Emma Wilhelmsson, Malin Levenstad, Jenny Engwall - Nanna Johansen (75 Johanna Rosén), Therese Sjögran, Nilla Fischer, Lina Nilsson (64 Emma Stålhammar) - Therese Lundin, Ásthildur Helgadóttir
Hammarby: Katarina Wicksell - Annica Svensson, Elin Sölveskog, Linda Forsberg, Caitlin Fisher - Louise Fors (78 Elin Härén), Therese Sandström, Jennie Jonsson, Marijke Callebaut, Sara Johansson - Emma Lundh (65 Jessica Landström)
Goals: 1-0 Lina Nilsson (6), 1-1 Jessica Landström (88)
Attendance: 453

Malmö started good, dominated Hammarby and got an early goal when Lina Nilsson scored from a Nanna Johansen cross. They continued to run the show and had several good chances, but Helgadottir and Lundin seemed to lack their usual sharpness. The play became more stagnant over time with a lot of high balls bouncing between the teams in midfield. Hammarby started to preassure Malmö, feeding Sara Johansson with long balls and Caroline Jönsson in Malmö's goal had to show her qualities, including a double save in a one on one with Johansson. It felt very much like a Hammarby equaliser was on its way and close to the final whistle Jessica Landström could score from a Caitlin Fisher corner kick. All in all a fair result, even if Hammarby seemed to enjoy it most - coach En Perlskog shouted a happy "Yess!!" at the final whistle.
The heavy rain had made Malmö FF's home arena unplayable and the match moved to Malmö's men's arena, Malmö stadion, on short notice. Malmö's usually vocal fans must have lost their way somewhere between the two arenas, but there was a small but loud contingent of Hammarby fans who gave us the classic chant "Öka takten sista kvarten - TI-DA-HOLM!" with 15 minutes left to play.
Sydsvenskan: MFF-damerna tappade allt
MalmöFF, pictures


Umeå IK - Mallbacken  1 - 0 (1-0)
Umeå: Sofia Lundgren - Anna Paulson, Karolina Westberg, Sanna Valkonen, Maria Bergkvist - Lise Klaveness, Malin Moström, Elaine (60 Lisa Dahlqvist) - Anna Sjöström, Hanna Ljungberg, Marta
Mallbacken:
Goals: 1-0 Malin Moström (33 PK)
Attendance: 804
Is Umeå getting complacent? Or just plain bored? 1-0 at home against Mallbacken (and on a dubious penalty at that) isn't really what was expected - the average over the last 5 years must be something like at least 5-0. Local media is questioning if this team is really prepared for the UEFA Women's Cup group play they will face in a little more than a week. Sloppy passing, slow pace and a lot of offside runs hurt the rhythm of the play and the lousy weather didn't help either. Defender Karolina Westberg was the only one in the team that got away with more than at best a simple passing grade from the critical local press.
Mallbacken on the other hand were pleased with their performance, but not satisfied. "We should have got 1 point today", said coach Fahlén, "but this should at least have helped our confidence a bit". In particular he was pleased with Monsén and Swaving at top and also with Elizabeth Dauble, who made her first appearence as a starter: "She's grown a lot since she first came here".
Västerbottenskuriren: Poängen det enda som gladde publiken

Västerbottens Folkblad: Målkalaset kom av sig
Värmlands Folkblad: Tveksam straff fällde Mallbacken

Göteborg had problems with KIF Örebro, where goalie Kristin Hammarström feeded Pavlina Scasna with long balls, but managed, unlike in some earlier matches, to keep both nerves and team together. Great first goal by loanie farfa, who ran through Örebro's defense in a solo raid.
Göteborgsposten: Göteborg tror på en fin höst


Sunnanå SK - Jitex   3 - 1  (1-1)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren (Carolina Marklund), Hanna Marklund, Rebecca Smith, Kicki Wiklund - Maria Nordbrandt (Alexandra Nilsson), Carina Holmberg, Sanna Frostevall, Anna Bodén - Lina Johansson (Emma Jonsson), Madelaine Edlund
Jitex: Kristin Luckenbill - Jenny Ringqvist, Amelie Rybeck, Emma Herbring, Sophia Lindorsson - Therese Björk, Malin Normelli, Leah Robinson, Therese Bjurenlind - Katie Eriksson, Sara Sjöstedt
Goals: 0-1 Sara Sjöstedt (20), 1-1 Lina Johansson (45), 2-1 Maria Nordbrandt (50), 3-1 Carina Holmberg (85)
Attendance: 511

Kicker: Zehn Wochen Pause für Mittag

Västerbottenskuriren: Arnqvist: "Vi måste få besked nästa vecka" , Labtestet borttappat