With the majority of the goals in Damallsvenskan match-week eight reserved for the teams lower down the table, Rosengård found a late winner against Kristianstad to keep them in touch after Eskilstuna surrendered three points to Djurgården and Linköping scooped all three from Piteå.

Further down the pile, Kvarnsveden hit LB07 for five, Hammarby came back from 0-3 to draw in Göteborg and Örebro and Vittsjö left each other frustrated at the Behrn Arena.  

Djurgården 1-0 Eskilstuna United

Top of the table and looking to keep their lead ahead of the weekend games, Eskilstuna found themselves frustrated in Stockholm, their scoring boots left at home as a resurgent DIF side put in their best performance of the year to grab their third win.

Dominant throughout, United left DIF stretched to the limit though their finishing was not what it should have been, but confident work from Guðbjörg Gunnarsdóttir and last ditch defending from the back line kept the visitors out. Most memorable was Petronella Ekroth’s sliding clearance to stop Mimmi Larsson’s effort from crossing after the attacker had rounded Gunnarsdóttir and looked certain to score. Resilient enough at the back, the Blue Stripes went forward without a huge amount of punch, the team looking more like individuals than a collective working together. The decisive moment in the game came after the hour when winter-signing, Tempest Marie Norlin flicked Hallbera Guðný Gísladóttir’s free kick past Emelie Lundberg and into the far corner. Norlin lively throughout as she consistently looked to break and carry the ball away from her own half, the attacker dropping exhausted to the turf at the final whistle, three hard-fought points staying in the capital.

Kvarnsveden 5-0 Limhamn Bunkeflo

On the back of a hiding from FCR in the Svenska Cupen last time out, KIK put in a dominant home performance to leave LB07 licking their wounds.

A short ball from Agnes Dahlström set up Lova Lundin to wrench the scores open fifteen minutes in as she finished to Emma Lind’s near post from close range, the visiting defence doing themselves no favours. Dahlström was involved again fifteen minutes later when she got her head on Julia Roddar’s dinked cross to the back post, static defending once again doing little to cover the away team in glory.

From there there was no going back from the travelling team, Tabita Chawinga reliable as ever to add a third minutes later after wriggling around the defence and blasting her shot inside of the near post. The Malawian international on hand to make it four at the start of the second-half when she again, slipped around those marking her to slam the ball into the back of the net. With a number of chances to complete her hat trick the potent striker needed almost every second available, her third of the match arriving deep in stoppage time when she tore through the defence and sent the ball spinning to the far corner. 

KIF Örebro 0-0 Vittsjö

KIF continued to improve in their second win on the spin, the hosts equally matched against VGIK, the pair left frustrated and they cancelled each other out throughout, a lack of cutting edge keeping the parity. Carola Söberg doing her bit to keep the visitors at bay as a general lack of understanding between those in red kept Shannon Lynn’s workload at a minimum.

Piteå 0-1 Linköping

For not the first time this season, PIF were left wholly frustrated at home, the team on top for the majority of the match, their opposition doing just enough to keep them out and make sure Cajsa Andersson left with a clean sheet. The shift from the hosts a world away from their performance in Kristianstad last time out, the team from the north dominating the ball at home and creating chance after chance – LFC nerves frayed – but try as they might they couldn’t find a response to Janni Arnth’s third minute opener.

Kopparbergs/Göteborg 3-3 Hammarby

Three goals to the good at the break, few would have predicted that KG would find themselves taking the bare minimum from their home tie but a dominant second-half from Hammarby saw them draw level twenty minutes after the break.

Beata Kollmats’ third minute goal looked to set the pace for the hosts when she thumped Elin Landström’s rolling free kick into the bottom corner, far out of the reach of Emma Holmgren. The lead doubled by Nathalie Persson twenty minutes later when she hammered the ball home at the far post, the midfielder in the right place at the right time to benefit from Sejde Abrahamsson’s less than convincing clearance. When Rebecka Blomqvist headed the hosts third of the match in just after the half hour it looked like there was only going to be one winner though the visitors had quite a different idea.

Filippa Angeldal’s curler from the left side of the box to the far side of Fanny Lund’s goal less than 30 seconds into the second-half was exactly the shot in the arm Hammarby needed, Bajen taking real hold of the game. Elena Sadiku took advantage of a sloppy clearance at a corner just before the hour to slip Madeleine Tegström’s lay-off through the static bodies in the box and into the bottom corner to reduce the deficit to one. The comeback completed by Julia Zigiotti less than ten minutes later when she nibbled the ball away from Kollmats before working some space at the top of the box and little rip high into the goal.

With 25 minutes still on the clock and nothing to separate the two both continued to hunt for a winner but a lack of clinical finish left both wanting though arguably, both could be left disappointing by not snatching a late winner. 

Rosengård 1-0 Kristianstad

In a game of few opportunities, Zecira Musovic found herself called upon to make two big first-half saves to deny the visitors, conversely Brett Maron was left wanting after letting Anja Mittag’s 84-minute shot slip just beyond her right glove to give the hosts a late lead. The German attacker’s run between Mia Carlsson and Sif Atladóttir to race onto Lieke Martens’ long ball a moment of quality in a dour match, her toe-poke from ten yards enough to secure all three points for Rosengård and keep them just behind the top two.

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