With three rounds left in the allsvenskan, the battle to avoid a qualifying game against the third in the super league continues to rage. The Bromma boys are parked in the qualifying spot on 27 points. Just above, IFK Gothenburg orbits at 30, Halmstad and AIK at 31.
One of the many reasons for Blåvitt’s vulnerable position is the inability this season to win games when they are played on Monday nights.
The numbers are this bad:
Eight evening games on a Monday have yielded just three points – three crosses and five losses – out of a possible 24.
Early management
But it started well against IFK Värnamo – the team of the autumn in Allsvenskan football. Emil Salomonsson, 34, is well on his way to 350 Allsvenskan matches during his two stays for IFK Gothenburg.
A loyal servant with a big club heart, in other words. But it is not often that he enters the role of goalscorer, right back as he is.
It went away in the counterattack in the 19th minute. Thomas Santos got past on his left wing, the cross sailed all the way through the penalty area where Salomonsson came running.
When Gustav Engvall was not on his toes and lost the marking, Salomonsson slipped past and wide-sided the lead goal, his second Allsvenskan goal of the season.
— That’s a nice post from Thomas. He is good at finding the areas and I, as an old forward, intercept the ball.
IFK Göteborg’s supporters stand up for Sweden.
He was satisfied with the important sequence, not so much otherwise.
— We can do much better and then it’s nice to have 1–0, says Salomonsson in the interview with Discovery+.
Dividend in others
Värnamo had, as they say, most of the game, but not, as they also like to say, those margins on their side. When Albion Ademi went for a free kick shortly before the break, the ball hit first the post and then the Gothenburg goalkeeper Pontus Dahlberg. But only to corners.
The payoff came early in the second half – and this time Engvall won the duel with Salomonsson. An unsuccessful offside trap gave Engvall a free pass. With Salomonsson in his arms, he sent in the receipt.
Shortly after, Oscar Johansson poked in 2-1 after Dahlberg released a rebound straight out and with barely a quarter of an hour left, Ademi pulled down the curtain with his 3-1 goal.
With the victory, Värnamo moved past both IFK Norrköping and Hammarby, is currently sixth in the table and has the chance to take at least one more place. On Sunday, the Smålands derby awaits away from fifth-placed Kalmar.