Hammarby served up the surprise of the weekend in Damallsvenskan, their first win of the season coming again Rosengård, elsewhere other promoted side LB07 suffered a heavy loss at home to Eskilstuna and both Vittsjö and Djurgården fought off come-backs from Kvarnsveden and Kristianstad respectively. Piteå saw their two goal lead dissolve in Göteborg when the hosts came back to draw and Linköping continued their perfect start to the year with a firm win over Örebro. 

Kvarnsveden 2-3 Vittsjö

Vittsjö lifted themselves away from the bottom end of the table with a narrow win at the Ljungbergsplanen. Linda Sällström opened the scoring mid-way through the first-half when the visitors turned the possession over and the Finn broke through the midfield before slotting the ball into the far corner, beyond Jenny Wahlén. Sällström denied a second four minutes later when she poked home from an offside position

The dominant side in the match, KIK were left frustrated as they did their upmost to work Shannon Lynn and the travelling defence, their hard work rewarded with an equaliser five minutes before the break. Tabita Chawinga able to latch onto ball over the top before slipping and wriggling one way and then the other to split the centrebacks and curl her shot just inside of the post.

Not the side with the lion’s share of chances, Vittsjö succeeded where Kvarnsveden failed and managed to capitalise on their chances, Emmi Alanen’s direct free kick early in the second-half a blow for the hosts. Alanen’s delivery inch-perfect to whip around the wall and curl towards the top corner, out of the reach of the diving ‘keeper.

The busiest attackers on the pitch was Montenegrin Armisa Kuč, the former SFK 2000 woman signed in the off-season finally able to get her first goal for KIK on her fifth outing. Rising well at a Julia Roddar corner, Kuč headed the ball into the turf in front of Lynn’s goal for the momentum to take it over.

The lead was however short-lived, Sällström firing her side back ahead from the spot with eight minutes left on the clock, the referee with no hesitation when she collided with Agnes Dahlström in the box. Wahlén able to get a fingertip to the ball as it whistled towards the bottom corner. 

Limhamn Bunkeflo 0-3 Eskilstuna United

Not having everything their own way during the first twenty minutes, Eskilstuna steadied themselves after Olivia Schough picked up Malin Diaz’ short ball before firing past Emma Lind and into the far side of the goal. Far from being played off of the pitch, LB07 had a torrid first-half seeing Alice Magnusson, Anna Welin and Nellie Lilja all forced off due to injuries in a tough ten-minute period before Schough doubled United’s advantage.

A clip on Schough by Elin Björklund saw the visitors rewarded a penalty five minutes before the break, the Swedish international sending Lind the wrong way from the spot as she delivered the ball into the right side of the goal.

Good pressure from the visitors saw them have the better of it in the second-half, Mimmi Larsson wrapping up the scoring on the hour, able to spin her marker before tucking the ball past Lind to ensure there would be no way back for the hosts.

Hammarby 1-0 Rosengård

Julia Zigiotti’s fourteenth minute strike was all to separate Damallsvenskan newcomers Hammarby and ten-time champions, Rosengård when they met for the first time this year at the Zinkendamms IP. An unchecked run around the back of Ebba Wieder saw Zigiotti arrive in the box in perfect time to meet Anna Oskarsson low-cross, her first time shot robbing Erin McLeod of a clean-sheet in her second match back from injury.

Unsurprisingly the visitors saw the majority of the possession as well as the chances but a well-regimented home defence kept FCR at bay, Emma Holmgren a match to all they could put on target. Hammarby unwilling to relinquish the lead once they’d taken it managed to survive the odd scare and see the game out, Rosengård already having lost the same amount of matches this year (in five games) as all of last season.

The result sees the former champions lose further ground on the top two as Hammarby have catapulted themselves up the table with their first win.

Kopparbergs/Göteborg 2-2 Piteå

After their pasting last week, Göteborg looked to be heading towards another heavy loss as a travelling Piteå side went two goals up inside of the first-half, Hanna Pettersson’s deft flick from Nina Jakobsson’s deep cross enough to evade Fanny Lund. Static defending caught the hosts cold just before half-time when Lotta Ökvist fired low past Lund, the second goal following the pattern of a ball whipped from the right into the mixer with the goalkeeper unable to get down far enough in time.

A rally after the break saw the hosts come out stronger for the second-half, a touch of luck for them when Sarah Teegarden opened her account for her new team, pouncing on the loose ball in the box after Nathalie Persson had seen her shot blocked from Pauline Hammarlund’s knock-down. Lund just able to get the ball under control at a free kick seconds later when she parried the ball towards Josefin Johansson, Teegarden around to clear the ball off of the line and into Lund’s grateful gloves.

The passage of play would prove to be decisive as the hosts countered from the set-piece, Elin Rubensson’s ball across the box well met by Hammarlund to volley in at the near post in front of her international teammate, Hilda Carlén.

The result sees Göteborg join Piteå on eight points, the pair comfortably in the top half of the table.

Djurgården 2-1 Kristianstad

It was a battle of the bottom two when Djurgården welcomed Kristianstad to the Stockholms Stadion, a win for either enough to see them spring out of the drop-zone.

For the second week on the bounce, the hosts went one up from the spot, Ogonna Chukwudi adjudged to have fouled Johanna Rytting Kaneryd at a corner and just as she had last week, Sheila van den Bulk fired her side ahead from 12-yards. However, unlike last week the hosts bagged themselves a second goal to help cement themselves in the match when Katrin Schmidt was well picked out by Mia Jalkerud, Schmidt’s ball curled around Brett Maron before slipping into the goal off of the upright.

The cushion absolutely required for DIF as the break brought about a resurgence from Kristianstad, Mia Carlsson’s inch-perfect cross for Therese Ivarsson headed beyond Guðbjörg Gunnarsdóttir to set up a nervous half-hour for the hosts. Unable to make the most of their chances, KDFF found themselves left behind by the Blue Stripes, the hosts up to seventh with their second win of the year. 

KIF Örebro 1-4 Linköpings FC

The only team yet to lose a game so far this season, reigning champions, Linköping took a while to find their full attacking rhythm at the Behrn Arena. Emma Lennartsson fluffed a chance before rather falling over the ball and volleying it home when Carola Söberg parried it straight at her feet. Emmaliina Tulkki made it two shortly after, sending Jessica Samuelsson’s ball into the open net, Örebro’s back-five unable to deal with LFC’s front three.

A shuffle at the break saw the hosts revert to a back-four and look better for it, restoring a balance both in defence and attack, though there was little that could be done when Lina Hurtig got her head to a Magdalena Eriksson corner to net her first league goal for her new club.

A renewed hunger from the hosts in attack saw Fanny Andersson presented with a chance to get her team back into the match when a lack of communication had Cajsa Andersson caught short. Janni Arnth failed to fully take control of Julia Spetsmark’s back-header. Andersson able to nip ahead of Arnth, already ahead of Andersson who was well out of her box before rolling the ball into the empty net with not much more than twenty minutes left to play.

There was to be not late comeback however and Tulkki swiftly got her second in blue and white, Emma Östlund’s poor touch gifted the teenager a chance to pounce and shoot past Söberg to tie a ribbon around the win. The loss enough to keep KIF looking decidedly off of the pace this year, the team just not coming together well on the pitch, Linköping able to make it five from five. 

Damallsvenskan table as it stands (Credit: SvFF)
Damallsvenskan table as it stands (Credit: SvFF)
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About the author
Sophie Lawson
Neutral football fan travelling around Europe, covering matches and bothering footballers for interviews