Swedish Cup Group Stage - Game 1 - Degerfors
This first Cup match is a chance for most of my backup players to have a go. With the Bayern match in 3 days time, every single player I intend to start in that match is either on the bench, or not even in the squad. This will be a test, therefore, against second tier side Degerfors. Halmstad are the main threat in our group.
It was pouring rain, and there were many broken sequences of play. KBH tried a shot from range in the 20th but it narrowly missed the top right corner.
Johansson got injured and had to be replaced by Helander in the 21st minute.
We utterly dominated the first period, but the score remained locked at nil all. Once again, I skipped the team talk by mistake!
Possebon and Eriksson came on for Adu and KBH in the 61st minute.
And in the 74th, Possebon dribbled through the middle and played the ball to Eriksson, who found Neri for a first time effort into the top left corner!
Neri teed up Possebon in the 83rd minute, but the keeper held his tame shot.
A counterattack in the 84th began with keeper KSG, who found Petrovic out wide. Drasko raced down the right and passed inside for Eriksson. Magnus took his bearings and unleashed a blistering shot from distance, which beat the keeper but struck the bar. Neri was first to the rebound, but his goal bound effort was diverted by a sliding defender.
The corner was cleared but worked back to the taker, Bengtsson, who found Helander unmarked at the near post. Filip stopped the ball and looked up, taking way too long, and he was tackled. Bengtsson had followed his cross and struck the loose ball, but it was easily held by the keeper.
In the 88th, Blomqvist looped a header from Bengtsson’s free kick over the keeper for his first Malmö goal.
In a remarkably similar piece of play to his first goal, Neri was once again found by Eriksson, but this time, the keeper got a hand to his low shot and turned it behind.
We continued to probe around their area until the whistle went.
A solid win, but nothing more than I expected. KBH was disappointing up front, but Pierre Bengtsson and Gianluca Neri were both outstanding!
POM: Pierre Bengtsson (8.8, 0G, 1A)