The early summer sun shone brightly over three arenas in Stockholm when Hammarby hosted AIK in front of a large crowd in Sunday's derby in the Allsvenskan.
The teams had very different pre-match positions. Hammarby was chasing league leaders Sirius at the top, while AIK was struggling in the lower half of the table.
"Bajen" came closest to taking the lead in the first half – including a shot off the post from a free kick by team captain Nahir Besara – but the half remained goalless.
Post shot by Besara
Instead, Hammarby took the lead at the beginning of the second half through Ibrahima Fofana.
Many probably believed that "Bajen" would then take all three points and keep the gap to league leaders Sirius intact.
Instead, AIK turned the tables. Johan Hove scored to make it 1-1 in the 58th minute after a set piece by Kevin Filling.
In the 84th minute, Bersant Celina decided the game after Stanley Wilson played a deep pass. Celina's low shot went into the net under Hammarby goalkeeper Warner Hahn, who made a dubious intervention.
"It's great. People talk a lot and we've received a lot of criticism. But we're much better than them today. We outplay them, create chances and defend well," Celina tells TV4 Play.
"If you lose, you're not good enough," says Hahn, and he continues:
"I think I should have taken the second goal."
Long-awaited AIK victory
AIK's victory was long-awaited for several reasons. First, the team had not won in the Allsvenskan in five rounds, since the 1–0 victory at home against Kalmar FF just over a month ago. Second, it was the first derby victory in the Allsvenskan this year after a 2–4 home loss to Djurgården last week and a 2–2 draw away to Brommapojkarna in April.
In parallel with the Stockholm derby, Sirius defeated Gais at home in Uppsala 2–1 and extended their league lead over second-place Hammarby from five to eight points; Hammarby has also played one more match.
