Experts agree that Malmö FF's men are favorites to take a third consecutive SM gold. But the start of the Allsvenskan season suggests that there will be more of it.
Hammarby appears to be one of the most serious challengers to the gold, at home on Wednesday evening, they showed why.
It's clear that I feel we're closer (to MFF) than we've ever been during my time, at least, says Hammarby's coach Kim Hellberg, who took over the team ahead of 2024, to Max.
Match Hero: "Completely Magical"
After a fast-paced but goalless first half, Sebastian Tounekti broke the deadlock in the 75th minute. The 22-year-old made his way along the goal line at Hammarby's goal and managed to score 1–0 – his first Allsvenskan goal – under MFF goalkeeper Ricardo Friedrich, despite a narrow angle.
It's completely magical. I'm unsure if it's my goal or an own goal. But it doesn't matter. The most important thing was that we took three points, says Tounekti to Max.
Ten minutes later, Markus Karlsson thundered in 2–0 and secured Hammarby's fourth win in five matches at the start of the Allsvenskan.
The guys are doing fantastically. Today we were a little better and deservedly won. We've worked ourselves into the opportunity to play a match like this and get to show that we're getting better and better, says Kim Hellberg.
First Defeat in a Long Time
"Bajen" is the new series leader – AIK can pass with a win against Värnamo on Thursday – and impresses not least defensively. This was the fourth clean sheet so far.
For Malmö FF, it's tougher. Despite the loss being the team's first this season – the first in the Allsvenskan since July last year – it was also the third consecutive match without a win. Already, the Scanians are four points behind Hammarby in the table.
There are many things in our game that aren't quite where we want them to be. Today was a tight and even match for 60 minutes. Somewhere there, we took a step back instead of moving forward. Then we concede a goal and afterwards, it's more chaos, says Malmö FF's coach Henrik Rydström.
