Hammarby star Jusef Erabi was benched in the previous round against Sirius, but when already clear SM gold winners Malmö FF came to Stockholm, the 21-year-old took his place in coach Kim Hellberg's starting eleven in the penultimate round.
It looked like Erabi would at least secure a third place in Allsvenskan for Hammarby – a position that gives qualification for the Conference League next summer.
Goals and assists
After a quarter of an hour, Erabi nodded in the leading goal behind Ricardo Friedrich in the MFF goal – his eighth full hit in Allsvenskan this year.
Two minutes before the break, a deep-running Erabi chipped the ball over the away goalkeeper and captain Nahir Besara could easily tap in 2–0 into an empty goal.
We keep it tight at the back, we have a good offense and punish them when we get the chances when they lose the ball, says Erabi to Max at halftime.
MFF secured their second straight SM gold at home against IFK Göteborg on Monday. With a tough match against Besiktas in Istanbul in the Europa League on Wednesday, coach Henrik Rydström chose to make eight changes compared to the starting eleven in the gold match.
Nils Zetterström got the chance when Pontus Jansson was completely rested and in the 65th minute, the 19-year-old center-back thundered in the reduction behind Warner Hahn.
"Gold-Bolin" equalized
Hugo Bolin shot MFF to SM gold on Monday with his 2–1 goal against "Blåvitt" – now he arranged the 2–2 equalization away at Hammarby less than two minutes after the reduction. It was also the final result.
I see this as a lesson. It's a young team and we need to learn from the masters. They were totally outplayed in the first half, but they know that the match is alive again when it's 2–1. But we should have made it three to kill the match completely, says Nahir Besara to Max.
Now it's set up for a battle for second and third place all the way to the Allsvenskan finish line.
Second-placed Hammarby has 54 points – three points ahead of AIK, who meet IFK Norrköping away on Monday. Fourth-placed Djurgården has 50 points and meets Halmstad away on Sunday. Clear series winners MFF have 62 points.
The situation in the Allsvenskan top:
- Malmö FF, 62 points (+41 goal difference)
Remaining to meet: Brommapojkarna (h).
- Hammarby, 54 points (+24).
Remaining to meet: Västerås (a).
- AIK, 51 points (+2).
Remaining to meet: IFK Norrköping (a), Halmstad (h).
- Djurgården, 50 points (+9).
Remaining to meet: Halmstad (a), IFK Norrköping (h).
MFF has secured the SM gold and will qualify for the Champions League next summer. Teams 2–3 will qualify for the Conference League.
