The Allsvenskan football match between Hammarby and Gais at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm was just over 30 minutes old when home player Hampus Skoglund clashed with away player Mervan Celik in a header duel.
Skoglund lay on the pitch for a couple of minutes while being examined by the medical team. The Hammarby player was given the green light to continue playing, but when Skoglund was asked in the break what he thought of the first half, he replied:
I'm going to be honest, I don't remember.
When the second half began, Skoglund was substituted in favor of Dennis Collander.
"Swings a bit"
During the first half, both teams struggled to create clear scoring opportunities. Gais goalkeeper Erik Krantz made his debut in the Allsvenskan and was not impressed by Hammarby.
The first half wasn't much to do. I think we're playing them out, says Krantz to Max.
League leaders Malmö FF dropped points away to Kalmar (2–2) on Saturday, but third-placed Hammarby failed to take the chance to close the gap to the Scanians.
It was also goalless in the second half, and it was newcomers Gais who had the most shots on goal, according to the association's official statistics.
The match also ended goalless, and Hammarby stand on 36 points after 20 matches. MFF lead the Allsvenskan on 45 points, while Djurgården have 38 points, but with one fewer match played than the top contenders.
We should have had the win, then it would have been top. But keeping a clean sheet in my debut, I'm happy, says Krantz, whose Gais are sixth on 32 points.
In Halmstad, bottom-placed Västerås took three valuable points. The only goal of the match at Örjans Vall fell in the 19th minute when Västerås forward Abdelrahman Saidi scored 1–0.
Missed penalty
In the seventh minute of added time, Halmstad were awarded a penalty, but Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul shot high over, and Västerås won 1–0. Thus, Västerås (18 points) leave the relegation spot to Kalmar (17) after 20 matches played.
Mjällby decided the match away to IFK Norrköping during the first half. Imam Jagne scored 1–0, and after almost half an hour, Mjällby's new acquisition Timo Stavitski could extend.
Home team's Christoffer Nyman reduced with almost twenty minutes left to play, but Norrköping were left without points.
