Damallsvenskan Newsblog

Would Umeå defeat Djurgården, have a 10 point lead with only half the matches played and effectively kill the league? That was the question talked about in media before this weekend. But Djurgården defeated Umeå and Victoria Svensson was very pleased "If we had lost, we would have been 10 points down and that would have been hard. Now it's only 4 and the league is alive!". Umeå's head coach Andrée Jeglertz commented surly "I guess everybody is cheering now", but didn't look like he would join in. And Umeå's goalscorer Hanna Ljungberg, looking not quite as sulky as her coach, said that she wants to win matches, all matches - "you will never get me to say that a defeat is good". SVT's controversial columnist Jonas Karlsson on the other hand claimed that the loss was good for Umeå - they probably lost thousands of spectators and SEK 1,5 millions in revenue last year because the league was decided too early.

Bonus info: Umeå's undefeated streak in Damallsvenskan became 56 matches long, starting after the 1-0 defeat to Malmö FF October 9, 2004, making it almost exactly 32 months long. They lost points only twice; a 2-2 draw at Malmö in April 2005 and a 1-1 home draw against Kopparbergs/Göteborg in May 2006. Umeå could boast 24 straight league wins before they finally lost to Djurgården. During the streak, Umeå lost 6 cup maches (Swedish and UEFA), 4 to Djurgården and one each to Linköping and Arsenal.

Falköping - Qbik 2 - 2 (2-1)
Falköping: Malin Andersson - Charlotte Abrahamsson, Karin Neuman (58 Cecilia Abrahamsson), Elin Osbeck, Emma Eriksson, Sandra Krantz (83 Rebecka Blennow), Madeleine Tegström, Josefine Alfsson, Camilla Sanderheim (76 Therese Larsson), Sofia Fröjdstedt, Linnea Liljegärd
Qbik: Maria Yatrakis - Ifeoma Dieke, Anna Nilsson, Julia Spetsmark (59 Lovisa Eriksson), Jenny Hallstenson, Rebecca Johnson (79 Sanna Backman), Therése Lückner, Amelie Rybäck, Therése Björk, Elin Sandgren, Jennifer Meier
Goals: 1-0 Sandra Krantz (4), 2-0 Linnea Liljegärd (33), 2-1 Jennifer Meier (35), 2-2 Amelie Rybäck (60)
Attendance: 579
Falköping, strong at home, opened optimistic and Sandra Krantz gets her team the lead after only minutes. The match could have been decided after Linnea Liljegärd?s 2-0, but Qbik?s German striker Jennifer Meier exploited a defensive mistake to make it 2-1. After Amelie Rybäck?s equalizer in the second half, both teams seemed content with the result.
Värmlands Folkblad: Så viktigt, Qbik

Hammarby - Bälinge 1 - 2 (1-1)
Hammarby: Katarina Wicksell - Annica Svensson, Elin Sölveskog, Josefin Christensen, Anna Lindblom - Jennie Jonsson, Malin Nykvist - Lousie Fors, Andrea Comaneci (66 Therese Sandström), Sara Johansson - Jessica Landström
Bälinge: Veronika Svensson - Karolina Mats, Lina Andersson, Linda Sembrant, Lisa Lantz - Katri Nokso-Koivisto, Anne Mäkinen, Kacey White, Linda Blom (66 Heidi Matinlassi) - Emma Lindqvist (59 Annette Kent), Sanna Talonen (59 Moa Eriksson),
Goals: 1-0 Jessica Landström (6), 1-1 Katri Nokso-Koivisto (23), 1-2 Moa Eriksson (74)
Attendance: 417
A pretty tight match, where the teams compensated for lack of quality with hard work. With Bälinge looking not at all as good as in the win over Örebro last match, they were lucky to get away with a win. Hammarby got an early lead as Jessica Landström took advantage of a miscalculated rush from Bälinge?s keeper. In one of Bälinge?s few first half scoring opportunities, winger Katri Nokso-Koivisto scored from close range after a missed attempt from Sanna Talonen. Hammarby had a lot of possession, but lacked the necessary edge finishing. Moa Eriksson pushed in the winner for Bälinge, where Hammarby wanted a free-kick for an attack on the goalkeeper.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Eriksson segerskytt för Bälinge
Hammarby: Förlust mot Bälinge

LCB FC Malmö - Linköping FC 4 - 1 (2-1)
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Emma Wilhelmsson, Malin Levenstad, Lina Nilsson - Frida Nordin, Therese Sjögran, Nilla Fischer, Emma Stålhammar (68 Dora Stefansdottir) - Asthildur Helgadottir (86 Nanna Johansen), Manon Melis (68 Therese Lundin),
Linköping: Maria Cederholm - Frida Östberg, Sara Larsson, Charlotte Rohlin, Faith Ikidi - Ann Westermark (82 Petra Larsson), Maureen Mmadu, Caroline Seger, Maria Karlsson (33 Marie-Louise Skålberg) - Josefine Öqvist, Maria Aronsson (63 Kosovare Asllani),
Goals: 1-0 Manon Melis (11), 1-1 Maria Aronsson (25), 2-1 Asthildur Helgadottir (45), 3-1 Therese Lundin (71), 4-1 Therese Lundin (77)
Attendance: 810
An undisputed win for the Malmö side, where Therese Sjögran and Nilla Fischer, both in really great form, owned the midfield. Manon Melis made the goal of the match when she dribbled past two Linköping defenders on the left side and scored from an almost impossibly narrow angle. The post-match comments was just as much about Djurgården?s win over Umeå, which Malmö considered a win for them too, as about the match that was played.
Corren: Tungt fall för Linköpings FC
Sydsvenskan: Dubbla segrar för LDB


Sunnanå - Kopparbergs/Göteborg 0 - 1 (0-1)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren, Hanna Marklund, Magdalena Esseryd, Anna Bodén, Carina Holmberg, Maria Nordbrandt (74 Rebecca Smith), Mirjam Marklund, Lina Johansson, Johanna Lindahl (82 Kristina Wiklund), Sanna Frostevall
Göteborg: Sandra Bjurteg - Marlene Sjöberg, Maria Nilsson, Jenny Engwall, Elin Dahl Örn - Sofie Andersson (67 Maria Karlsson), Salina Olsson, Sofia Karlsson, Emelie Farfa - Lotta Schelin, Sara Lindén,
Goals: 0-1 Sara Lindén (5)
Attendance: 542
Göteborg, eager to better themselves after the disappointing draw against Qbik, scored the only goal in the match, when Sara Lindén picked up a missed clearance after a corner-kick. The rest of the match the guests had a pretty hard time against a home-strong Sunnanå. The backline with the Marklund sisters made a good job keeping Lotta Schelin off the scoresheet and they were aggressive in midfield, but had problems getting their play to work in the offensive third of the field.
Norra Västerbotten: Sunnanå föll trots spelövertag
Västerbottens Folkblad: Sunnanå mållöst trots flera chanser
Göteborgsposten: Revanschlusta gav tre poäng

Umeå IK - Djurgården 1 - 2 (1-2)
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Maria Bergkvist, Johanna Frisk (24 Emma Berglund), Karolina Westberg, Anna Paulson - Lise Klaveness, Hanna Ljungberg, Elaine - Marta, Madelaine Edlund, Ramona Bachmann (68 June Pedersen).
Djurgården: Bente Nordby - Dorte Dalum Jensen, Therese Brogårde, Jane Törnqvist, Sara Thunebro - Elin Ekblom, Ariane Hingst, Anna Hall (69 Annemarie Norlin), Linda Forsberg, Kristin Bengtsson (13 Emma Lundh, 86 Anna Lagerberth) - Victoria Svensson
Goals: 1-0 Hanna Ljungberg (13), 1-1 Linda Forsberg (32), 1-2 Victoria Svensson (35)
Attendance: 3,828
It started good for Umeå, with a Hanna Ljungberg goal after only 11 minutes, but Djurgården played determined and disciplined. Their usual recipe for an Umeå match - play close, play hard and pressure high in the field - worked out as intended this time. Linda Forsberg equalised after 32 minutes as a botched clearance from Umeå?s keeper Carola Söberg found it?s way to her feet and Victoria Svensson worked herself to a great goal only minutes later, getting past Umeå?s left side defense. As Umeå tried to come back in the second half, Djurgården seemed to play harder, not the least against Marta, and there were a couple of yellow cards.
There were two early casualties in the match. Djurgården?s Kicki Bengtsson left already after 13 minutes feeling an old injury (?We knew it was a risk to let her start?, said coach Benny Persson) and Umeå?s defender Johanna Frisk was carried off with a torn knee ligament after 23 minutes. Umeå?s defense seemed to have some problems getting organised after that.
Aftonbladet: RÄDDARNA
Dagens Nyheter: Djurgården spräckte Umeås svit
Västerbottens Folkblad: Djurgården närmar sig efter segern
SVT: Djurgården bröt Umeås långa svit utan förlust, match clip