Allsvenskan Round-Up: Mjällby Stalled by 10-Man Malmö as the League Resumes

The mid-summer break has done little to temper the intensity of the title race in the Allsvenskan, as weekend victories for Hammarby and AIK ramp up the pressure on leaders Mjallby, who could only secure a 1-1 draw against champions Malmo, despite the latter being reduced to ten players.

In their first league encounters since the beginning of the month, it was Malmo who started strongly, taking the lead in the ninth minute with Taha Ali scoring his first goal of the season in the Allsvenskan.

Mjallby managed to equalise in the 73rd minute with a strike from Elliot Stroud, but despite a late red card for Colin Rosler, the home side was unable to clinch a winner, leaving them just one point clear at the top. Malmo currently sits in fifth place, trailing by eight points.

One point behind the leaders, Hammarby made significant progress with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Halmstad at home.

Nahir Besara broke the scoreless deadlock after half an hour, and Sebastian Tounekti added a second goal later in the match, sealing Halmstad’s fourth loss in five games.

Chasing closely behind the top two are AIK, who made a striking return to the pitch with a 3-0 win against IFK Goteborg.

Filip Benkovic and 16-year-old debutant Kevin Filling each found the net in the first half, before Johan Hove capped off the impressive victory in the 61st minute, ending Goteborg’s three-match winning streak.

Elfsborg faced further disappointment in the title race this week; having been defeated by Hammarby just before the break, they returned to the field with a disappointing goalless draw against bottom-placed Varnamo.

This outcome saw Elfsborg slip to fourth, now five points behind the leaders, while Varnamo remains winless and stranded at the bottom.

In another Monday night fixture, Djurgarden and Norrkoping played to a 1-1 draw, with Djurgarden maintaining a slight edge, being one point and one position above their rivals.

Tobias Gulliksen scored for the Stockholm side just before halftime, but Christoffer Nyman equalised for Norrkoping shortly after the hour mark.

In the wake of the somewhat surprising sacking of William Lundin, Degerfors’ first match saw them suffer a 3-0 defeat at home to Brommapojkarna, who climbed past them into 12th place.

Love Arrhov opened the scoring, followed by second-half goals from Anton Kurochkin and Eric Bjorkander, pushing Degerfors’ losing streak to four matches while ending BP’s own run of six consecutive losses.

Currently on a three-match winning streak and unbeaten in five, GAIS ascended to sixth place following a 3-1 victory against Hacken.

The Gothenburg team raced to a 2-0 lead within the first 16 minutes, with Rasmus Niklasson netting the opener and providing an assist for Ibrahim Diabate’s goal. Amin Boudri made it 3-0 with a quarter of the match remaining, before Isak Brusberg scored a consolation for Hacken, who slipped to eighth place.

There’s only one point dividing Sirius in 11th and Ostersund in 15th, as the latter bounced back to draw 2-2 at home, maintaining a five-match unbeaten streak.

Robbie Ure and Leo Walta each gave Sirius the lead in the second half, but both times, they were matched by Ivan Kricak and, in a dramatic finish, David Seger in the 95th minute.