AIK, who came to Stora Valla with a single victory in the 2023 football allsvenskan, received two early blows in the away meeting with Degerfors.
First everything went wrong for Aboubakar Keita when, with the sun in his eyes, he received Rasmus Örqvist’s long throw-in with his hands and gave Degerfors a penalty – 1-0 through Diego Campos.
During the goal celebration, AIK’s team captain Alexander Milosevic was forced to leave the match after a hard landing after a melee.
The visitors came back but victory still went to the home side after substitute Justin Salmon’s 2-1 goal in the 69th minute.
“It wasn’t a well-played match, but we set our defensive game and are dangerous on counterattacks,” said Christos Gravius to Discovery.
“Do not get it”
Up until 1-0, the home team AIK threatened in depth, but afterwards there were more clearances than precision balls from Degerfors’ counterattack attempts and the visitors took over completely.
— We reacted well, kept our heads cool and grinded on, said AIK’s coach Andreas Brännström to Discovery.
The reward came in added time in the first half when John Guidetti forced home the equalizer after a corner after Degerfors’ debuting goalkeeper Jonas Olsson lost control of the ball.
— I think I have the ball. I’ll do better, but personally I think it’s a free kick, Olsson told Discovery.
Olsson replaced Sondre Rossbach after Degerfors’ difficult start in May, with three straight losses and 1-14 in goal difference.
— It has been tough. It was time to do something to bring about a change, said Degerfors coach Tobias Solberg to Discovery.
The first half was not over with the 1-1 goal.
In the dying seconds, referee Granit Maqedonci awarded a penalty to AIK’s Degerfors signing Omar Faraj in a duel with Seid Korac but changed his mind after a discussion with his assistant referee.
— It is a clear punishment. He goes to the linesman who is 50 meters away. I don’t understand anything, Faraj told Discovery.
Effective switching
In the second half, Degerfors evened out the game and occasionally had to rest with the ball within the team, even though AIK was the leading team.
Therefore, it did not feel completely illogical that the next ball that crossed the goal line ended up in AIK goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt’s cage.
Justin Salmon jumped into the game in the 66th minute and three minutes later Diego Campos’ corner bounced past the midfielder who put it 2-1 past Nordfeldt’s left post.
The goal meant three much-needed points for Degerfors, while the pressure on AIK is tightened even more.
— It is difficult to say that we should turn this around in a simple way. This is the level we are at right now, said Andreas Brännström.