Damallsvenskan Newsblog

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