Blair Turgott left Häcken last summer and had not scored an Allsvenskan goal since 2022.
But when he got to jump in against his former team, a full hit came that could be extremely valuable for Halmstad.
The goal was enough for victory and to leave the qualifying spot with two rounds left of Allsvenskan.
There were less than 20 minutes left of the away game when Vinicius Nogueira took advantage of a Häcken mistake and played Turgott free, who from a suspicious offside position put 1–0 for the guests.
This means that Halmstad leaves the qualifying spot – even though the team has a tough program left. First Djurgården at home and then away against AIK in the final round.
We have great humility before the task, even though we want more, says Andreas Johansson to Max.
These are wonderful tasks.
Hard-pressed
Halmstad was hard-pressed in the beginning of the match. But managed to get the best scoring opportunities in the first half, when Häcken lost pace.
Häcken goalkeeper Peter Abrahamsson had to stretch out a few times when Halmstad pushed up with quick attacks, but 0–0 stood until halftime.
A bit tricky, but they haven't created any direct chances. They just play, play and play, summarized Halmstad midfielder André Boman in Max during the break.
He got support from Häcken colleague Mikkel Rygaard.
We are incredibly bad with the ball today, he said frustrated.
I'm a bit disappointed with my teammates.
It didn't look much different after the break either – until the excellent Yannick Agnero was substituted and the substitute – and former Häcken player – Blair Turgott slipped through the backline and gave Halmstad the lead.
Tight relegation battle
While Malmö FF has more or less killed the excitement in the gold battle – although it's not entirely clear yet – it has tightened up to an extremely tight relegation battle.
Several teams are still standing on very uncertain ground.
IFK Norrköping took a heavy win against bottom rival IFK Värnamo (2–1) on Sunday, but is still not entirely out of danger.
But both "Peking" and Halmstad – which with the win went past Värnamo – have their destinies in their own hands ahead of the last two rounds.
This is the situation in the men's Allsvenskan relegation battle ahead of the final rounds.
- IFK Norrköping (28 matches, 31 points, –20 goal difference.
Matches left: AIK (h), Djurgården (a).
- IFK Göteborg 27 matches, 30 points, –8.
Matches left: Malmö FF (a), Kalmar FF (h), Mjällby (a).
- Halmstad: 28 matches, 30 points, –16.
Matches left: Djurgården (h), AIK (a)
14, qualifying spot): IFK Värnamo, 28 matches, 27 points, –11.
Matches left: Brommapojkarna (a), Malmö FF (a).
15, relegation spot): Kalmar FF, 28 matches, 26 points, –21.
Matches left: IFK Göteborg (a), Häcken (h).
- Västerås, 27 matches, 20 points, –16.
Matches left: Djurgården (a), Elfsborg (a), Hammarby (h).
