With only two games left to play, Hammarby have a chance to win their second Swedish Championship title. Thanks to a significantly better goal difference, “Bajen” are ahead of Sirius, who have a game in hand.
Hammarby can thank Paulos Abraham for that.
The 24-year-old made it 1-0 in the 39th minute, controlling a pass from Frank Junior Adjei on his chest before thundering the ball into the roof of the net to give Hammarby a comfortable half-time lead.
“It’s important. In many games, our opponents defend deep and we don’t get the ball in the first phase. It’s great that we’ve made it 1-0,” Paulos Abraham told TV4 at half-time.
Hammarby dominated the first half but “only” led 1-0.
Solo goal
The payoff came in the second half.
Paulos Abraham also scored the second goal - at least as spectacular as the first.
He received the ball in his own half and drove forward before making it 2-0. It was Abraham’s 17th goal of the season, putting him level with Djurgården’s Kristian Lien at the top of the league scoring chart.
Elfsborg’s Thomas Isherwood then scored a comical own goal, inadvertently outwitting his own goalkeeper, Theo Sander, to make it 3-0.
Montader Madjed made it 4-0 before Leo Östman reduced the deficit for Elfsborg with just under ten minutes remaining.
“We’re in top form. It’s fun to play football when we play like this. It feels great,” Madjed said.
Fifth in a row
Hammarby won their fifth game in a row, doing their part and more to put pressure on Sirius.
However, the Uppsala side can reclaim the league lead on Sunday when they play away against bottom-placed Kalmar.
The match in Stockholm was significantly delayed. First, kick-off was pushed back by 15 minutes due to smoke from pyrotechnics during the teams’ entrance. Then, just over a minute into the match, a medical emergency in the stands led to a delay of almost 30 minutes.
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