Almost half of the matches are now played in Sweden. One game though, Djurgården – LdB FC Malmö, has been postponed to Aug. 15, because Malmö has its players Amanda Ilestedt, Saga Fredriksson, and Elin Rubensson in Turkey with the Swedish U19 NT where they play the European Championships.
Kopparberg/Göteborgs FC vs AIK 1-1
Attendance: 350
Göteborg: Anita Asante (Linnéa Liljegärd) 73’
AIK: Susan Varli (Madeleine Tegström) 19’
Surprisingly AIK went home with a draw from Gothenburg. A draw which implied that AIK gives the red lantern back to Djurgården. Five of AIK’s players were nominated by coach Calle Barling to the U19 EURO in Turkey: Jennie Nordin, Elin Bragnum, Malin Diaz, Therese Boström, and Petra Andersson. Bragnum turned out to be injured and was replaced by Malmös Saga Fredriksson. For Göteborg the season becomes more and more disappointing, showing that they are not able to compete with leaders Tyresö and Malmö.
Piteå IF vs Umeå IF 3-1
Attendance: 2,492
Piteå: Hanna Pettersson (Jennifer Nobis) 10’, own goal 49’, Josefin Johansson (Emelie Lövgren) 64’
Umeå: Rita Chikwelu (Tuija Hyyrynen) 55’
Last Thursday’s match between the two northern clubs provides Damallsvenskan with a shift in power. For the very first time, Piteå with American Jennifer Nobis, is the No. 1 team in Northern Sweden. The match was broadcast live on TV4 in Sweden, despite that there were 2,492 fans – a new high for the season, explainable because Piteå hosted the Piteå Summer Games for kids and all participants could go in for free.
Vittsjö GIK vs Tyresö FF 1-1
Attendance: 2,500
Vittsjö: Emma Sjödahl (Emma Unkuri) 28’
Tyresö: Lisa Dahlkvist (Marta) 74’
The match of the year for the little town of Vittsjö ended with a well-deserved draw against Marta, Vero, Seger, & Co. Tyresö had far more opportunities to win this, but Vittsjö’s players ran, fought as usual and they were really close winning this. Emma Sjödahl’s header after almost half an hour confirmed Vittsjö being the team that scores on almost every chance. It took 46 minutes until Lisa Dahlkvist could score the equalizer after a Marta corner from the left side. It could be possible that Malmö will take advantage of this result later this summer.
KIF Örebro vs Kristianstads DFF 1-4
Attendance: 621
KIF Örebro: Fanny Persson (Marie Hammarström) 85’
Kristianstad: Therese Andersson (Kosovare Asllani) 7’, Katrin Omarsdottir 38’,Kosovare Asllani (Susanne Moberg) 67’, Elena Sadiku (Johanna Rasmussen) 94’
Something is entirely wrong with KIF Örebro. Winning away at Jitex gave them hope that this season could lead to a better end, but the home match against Kristianstad ended 4-1 for the guests from Skåne with Becky Edwards in their squad. After 11 games, 31 goals were scored against Örebro – not even Djurgården (which lost, 11-0, at Linköping) has conceded more. Kristianstad lies in fourth position now and is about to establish itself as one of the best teams in the country.
Linköpings FC vs Jitex BK 4-0
Attendance: 557
Linköpings FC: Nilla Fischer (Petra Larsson) 12’, Manon Melis 18’, Lisa DeVanna (Emma Lundh) 19’, Nora Holstad Berge (Lisa DeVanna) 45+2’
Linköping has finally become the goal machine they were supposed to be before the season. After ACL injuries to Linda Sällström and Charlotte Rohlin, the team was not living up to its own goals, but since Linköping has changed roles for their leaders with sport director Jörgen Pettersson again as coach and manager on the bench, it looks a lot better. Nilla Fischer has to play centre back which she does pretty successful, although she actually went to Linköping to take more responsibility in the offensive. Jitex has problems right now which some experts think depend on that U19 player Fridolina Rolfö was first sick and now not available because of the EURO in Turkey.
Rainer Fussgänger, of Germany, lives in Sweden and has followed the Damallsvenskan for eight years now. Living in Stockholm with three clubs (Djurgården, Hammarby, and Tyresö) around the corner, he is lucky to see a lot of games. You can follow Rainer on Twitter @ffschweden and check out his website at http://ffschweden.wordpress.com.