Djurgården IF beat Ilves 3–1 at home and advanced 4–2 on aggregate to the play-off round in the Football Conference League.
Ilves fought hard in the third qualifying round of the football Conference League for the next place, but Djurgården IF was too tough at home. DIF won their home match 3–1 and progressed with 4–2 on aggregate, after the match in Tampere had ended 1–1.
Djurgården pressed strongly right from the start of the match, Otso Virtanen, who returned to the Ilves goal, had to stretch again and again. The home team managed to score already in the 14th minute, when Besard Sabovic shot the ball into the goal posts with a wonderful long shot.
A quarter of an hour later, Djurgården’s goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström made a terrible mistake and gave a bad stray pass in front of his own goal. Scored Ilves’ equalizing goal in Tampere Roope Risk caught the ball for himself and calmly finished the 1-1 equalizing goal.
However, Ilves got cold water on his neck right at the end of the half. Ilves defense forgot DIF By Deniz Hümmet in a corner kick without guarding, and Hümmet was able to bounce the ball from the back post into the goal and make the situation 2–1.
The second half also started with a strong press from the home team. This time, Djurgården hit already in the 52nd minute, when Adam Ståhl headed a high corner kick into the goal.
The Swedish team sometimes gave their fans heart palpitations, as the DIF defense gave the ball away to Ilves on a couple of occasions. The people of Tampere greedily sought to narrow down, but were unable to score a goal, even though they got good pressure and chances to score towards the end of the half. For once, Ilves’ possible penalty kick was also examined through VAR.
Today, HJK will face FK Dečić in the third qualifying round of the Conference League in Montenegro.