Allsvenskan Round-Up: Mjallby Held to Draw by 10-Man Malmo as League Action Resumes

The mid-summer break has certainly not dampened the intensity of the Allsvenskan title race, as victories for Hammarby and AIK over the weekend have ramped up the pressure on leaders Mjallby, who could only secure a 1-1 draw at home against defending champions Malmo, who played a significant part of the match with 10 men.

In their first league outings since the start of the month, it was Malmo who took an early advantage, with Taha Ali netting his first Allsvenskan goal of the season in the ninth minute.

Mjallby managed to find an equaliser in the 73rd minute through Elliot Stroud. However, despite a late red card shown to Colin Rosler, the home side couldn’t convert their chances into a winner, leaving Mjallby just one point ahead at the top, while Malmo sits in fifth place, trailing the leaders by eight points.

Just one point behind the top spot are Hammarby, who climbed the standings with a commanding 2-0 victory against Halmstad at home.

Nahir Besara broke the deadlock after 30 minutes, and in the second half, Sebastian Tounekti sealed the win with a stunning goal, ensuring Halmstad suffered their fourth defeat in the last five matches.

Following closely behind the top two is AIK, who returned to competitive action with a resounding 3-0 win over IFK Goteborg.

Filip Benkovic and 16-year-old debutant Kevin Filling both scored in the first half for the Solna squad, while Johan Hove wrapped up the victory with a third goal in the 61st minute, bringing Goteborg’s three-match winning streak to an abrupt end.

Elfsborg, who are losing ground in the title chase, faced disappointment after being bested by Hammarby prior to the break, returning from the hiatus with a lacklustre goalless draw against bottom-placed Varnamo.

This result dropped Elfsborg to fourth place, five points off the lead, while Varnamo remains without a win and stuck at the bottom of the table.

The other match on Monday night ended in a 1-1 stalemate between two midtable sides, with Djurgarden maintaining a slight edge over Norrkoping by a single point.

Tobias Gulliksen gave the Stockholm team a lead during added time at the end of the first half, but Christoffer Nyman equalised for the visitors just before the hour mark.

Meanwhile, Degerfors faced their first match following the surprise sacking of William Lundin, resulting in a 3-0 defeat at home against Brommapojkarna, who leapfrogged Degerfors into 12th position.

Love Arrhov opened the scoring, with early strikes in the second half from Anton Kurochkin and Eric Bjorkander extending Degerfors’ losing streak to four matches and putting an end to Brommapojkarna’s own run of six losses.

GAIS, on the other hand, are enjoying a good run, having won three straight matches and remaining unbeaten for five, as they climbed to sixth place with a 3-1 win over Hacken.

The Gothenburg side went 2-0 up within 16 minutes, thanks to Rasmus Niklasson, who scored the first goal and assisted the second for Ibrahim Diabate. Amin Boudri added a third goal with a quarter of the match remaining, before Isak Brusberg netted a consolation goal for Hacken, who dropped to eighth.

In a tightly contested midtable battle, only one point separates Sirius in 11th and Oster in 15th, as the latter came back to draw 2-2 at home, extending their unbeaten run to five matches.

Robbie Ure and Leo Walta each gave Sirius the lead in the second half, only for their opponents to respond on both occasions through Ivan Kricak and, crucially, David Seger in the 95th minute.