Swedish Star Leads the Way as Djurgården Falls in Round of 16 First Leg

Djurgarden’s ambitions of reaching their first major European quarter-final since 1956 suffered a setback this evening in Cyprus, thanks to former Sweden international Maumer Tankovic, who netted the sole goal of the match for Pafos during the first leg of their UEFA Conference League tie.

Things could have started poorly for Djurgarden when another Swedish player from Pafos, Ken Sema, failed to direct his header on target in the second minute.

The home side kept the pressure on early in the match, with Jairo and Bruno both having attempts at goal, but they were denied by visiting goalkeeper Malkolm Nilsson on both occasions.

However, Djurgarden began to find their rhythm around the 30-minute mark, highlighted by a strong run from Tokmac Chol Nguen, whose shot went narrowly wide. Both Oskar Fallenius and Miro Tenho then forced saves from Ivica Ivusic in the Pafos goal.

If not for another excellent save from Nilsson, Djurgarden would have been punished by Pepe late in the half, meaning the teams went into the break without a goal.

The second half in Limassol lacked excitement until just before the hour mark, when Nguen’s free-kick flew past the post.

Yet, after 65 minutes, the deadlock was finally broken by Tankovic, the five-time Swedish international.

A hopeful ball played into the box was mismanaged by the Djurgarden defence, allowing Vlad Dragomir to deftly flick it across goal into Tankovic’s path, who bundled it in for his first goal of the competition proper.

Tankovic thought he had scored again just four minutes later, but a tidy finish was disallowed by VAR for offside.

Nevertheless, one goal proved to be sufficient, as Jani Honkavaara’s side failed to register a single shot on target in the second half.

This disappointing result for the Iron Stoves sees their four-match winning streak in the competition come to an end. Meanwhile, Pafos continue to make waves in their inaugural European campaign.

The tie will be concluded next Thursday, March 13th, with the second leg taking place at Djurgarden’s 3Arena.