It was a Twente without a single win in the European Championship football so far that visited Malmö on Thursday evening. Both teams stood on four points before the meeting, and were thus thoroughly whipped to win in order not to extinguish the dream of the playoffs.
Then Malmö was close to getting a dream start to the match, when Erik Botheim got a giant chance already in the second minute – but Twente's goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall saved.
Instead, it was Twente that would crack the zero. Just under half an hour into the match, Gabriel Busanello knocked down a Twente player in the penalty area and the referee blew without hesitation for a penalty. Sem Steijn took care of the situation from eleven meters and 1–0 for the guests was a fact.
National team player scores
The reply came immediately, however. Lasse Berg Johnsen had a lot of luck when his shot was deflected in from a distance via a Twente foot in a strange arc into the goal, and the score was again even.
But it was not Malmö's evening. It became clear when Twente in the 60th minute got their second penalty of the match – a harshly judged one, after it was discovered in a VAR review that Otto Rosengren had stamped on a Twente player.
The Malmö players protested vigorously against the decision, but to no avail.
I think it's a joke, I'm just running and trying to get rid of my guy and he runs into me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, I think it's completely wrong to take it, says Rosengren about the penalty.
He continues:
It's clear he falls when he runs into me. I asked the referee why he blew but he didn't answer, you get damn angry.
Playoff dream extinguished
The 2–1 goal was as safe as the first from the penalty spot, and it didn't stop there. Just minutes later, Swedish national team player Gustaf Lagerbielke extended to 3–1, with a perfect nod in the cross on a corner.
Substitute Anders Christiansen made sure to give Malmö a little hope with just over ten minutes left of the match, after reducing to 2–3. But no closer than that did MFF come, and the hope of reaching the European Championship playoffs is thus out.
For the Scanian team, a final league match against Slavia Prague away remains on January 30.
