It did not take long at Platinumcars Arena in Norrköping before the home team set the tone.
With only three minutes on the clock, it rattled in the net. Isak Sigurgeirsson dribbled through to the left in the penalty area and sent the ball in front of the goal. In the right place at the right time, team captain Christoffer Nyman appeared and pressed in 1–0 for "Peking". The striker's ninth full hit of the season.
The half continued with a clear game advantage for Norrköping, who went to break with a well-deserved lead.
Three substitutions at half-time
Before the second half, Värnamo responded with a triple substitution. Simon Thern, Emin Grozdanic and Ajdin Zeljkovic all stepped off, and in came Axel Björnström, Mohammad Alsalkhadi and Antonio Kujundzic.
The effect was immediate. Newcomer Alsalkhadi shot via a deflection into 1–1 behind David Andersson in the Peking goal and the match was even.
The joy was, however, short-lived.
Goalkeeper assist
A few minutes later, David Andersson sent a long ball from his own half of the field that Arnór Traustason elegantly took down before he icily chipped the ball into the goal – a class goal from the team's flag bearer and an unusual assist from the team's goalkeeper.
I see when "Dava" loads up, so I step up a step. It's a good touch from me then. I'm happy with it, says Traustason to Max and emphasizes that the assist from his goalkeeper was planned:
We talked about it at half-time, that we would do so in the second half. As soon as I see "Dava" loading, I know where the ball will come.
"Peking" was not finished there. Just two minutes later, Traustason struck with a perfect play forward to Nyman, who easily set his second goal of the evening.
3–1 held up for the rest of the match and IFK Norrköping thus climbs to an eleventh place in the table. Värnamo remains hopelessly in last place, with six points up to safe ground.
