First a dream goal at the far post. Then a counterattack and a dribbling move that would have made any Allsvenskan striker jealous.
Noah Christoffersson, Örgryte's top scorer this season, had perfected his goal form for the Allsvenskan qualifiers.
Örgryte was forced to play almost the entire second half with one player less, after Jonathan Azulay drew his second yellow card in the match.
But by then it was already 2–0 to the Superettan team, after a strong first half.
And when Noah Christoffersson received a long pass, beat his defender and dribbled past David Andersson in the IFK goal, it was suddenly 3-0 to the challenger from the Super League.
Seventh straight loss
There were two teams with rather questionable form that clashed in the first qualifying match at Gamla Ullevi.
IFK Norrköping lost six straight matches in the Allsvenskan final, while Örgryte lost their direct place in the Allsvenskan after five straight matches without a win in the Super League.
But once the qualifiers got underway, it was Örgryte who wanted and could do the most – and inflicted a seventh loss in a row on “Beijing”.
IFK Norrköping had indeed just started to create some chances and worked their way to a corner – then the Gothenburg team had a counterattack opportunity.
Tobias Sana pushed the ball forward in the middle and passed it perfectly to Daniel Paulson, who came rushing forward on the right wing and coolly placed it 1–0 after just ten minutes of the match.
A few minutes before the break, Öis increased their lead – with a real dream goal.
Noah Christoffersson – second in the Superettan scoring league with his 18 goals this year – had two defenders against him but managed to look up and curl the ball untouchably into the far crossbar.
"I take it and turn it into the far side," he told HBO Max during the break.
I have made many such goals.
Then he definitely decided the match in the second half.
Return next weekend
On paper, the qualifications look quite similar – IFK Norrköping has 13 Swedish Championship gold medals, Örgryte 12.
But while “Peking” won the Swedish Championship as recently as 2015, Örgryte has not played in the Swedish league since 2009 – and has also had to fight its way back from Division 1 twice.
Now the Gothenburg club has a great chance to get back to the Allsvenskan.
The return leg will be played in Norrköping next Saturday.
