Swedish Premier Division - Game 17 - IFK Göteborg (Away)
We have a perfectly identical head to head record with IFK so far - both of us have a 2-0 win at home and a 3-2 win on the road. The difference is that we have won the two most recent encounters, and will look to continue the momentum here.
In the third minute, Thern slipped KBH in, and he finished with his first touch.
The Korean picked up his second in the 27th minute after a sensational pass from Thauvin sent him through.
In the 29th, Linnes’ cross found Santos, but his header was held by the diving keeper.
30 seconds later and KBH was racing upfield with the ball. He was dispossessed but the ball rolled straight into the path of Thauvin, who unleashed the most blistering strike imaginable, which the keeper unbelievably saved!
A quick look at the stats in the 31st minute showed that Santos had completed 20 of 22 passes, 5 of which were key passes!
And in the 39th, the Brazilian picked up an assist when he squared for Thauvin outside the top of the box, and the Frenchman nutmegged his man before picking out the top right corner from outside the area.
At half time, KBH had a rating of 8.9, Thauvin’s was 8.2 and Santos’ was 8.6!
In the 55th minute however, Santos picked up a second yellow card for a silly tackle, and we were down to 10 men.
In the 58th our opponents nearly pulled one back, but a weak effort following a good team move was easily held by KSG, who picked up a knock in catching it somehow! With no keeper on the bench, I was forced to persevere with the ailing Korean.
His apparent injury didn’t stop him making an incredible double save in the 61st minute, so I’ll be pretty annoyed if I find out post-game that he’s ruled out for a few weeks.
Seconds later, Biro-Biro and Neri replaced Thern and Molins.
And in the 63rd minute, Ricardinho sent an indirect free kick to Neri on the top left corner of the box. Neri chipped the ball forward, and KBH was quickest to react, volleying inside the near post to seal his hat trick!
Sadly, he became the second Korean to pick up an injury in the 70th minute, and I had no choice but to replace him with Eriksson.
Unbelievably, Eriksson picked up an injury within 3 minutes of taking the field, and suddenly I was two men short, with an injured keeper on the field!! This is what I had to change the formation to!
I was incredibly proud of our defence however, as IFK failed to create any real chances, and we kept the clean sheet. It really was an awesome performance, and I feel that if it weren’t for the red card and the injuries, we might have even scored more!
POM: Kim Byung-Hyun (9.6, 3G, 0A)
Injury News...
It would appear that I forgot to take screenshots, but the result of the injuries is this:
Terrible news as
Kim Byung-Hyun is ruled out for almost two months!
[
5-7 weeks with a sprained ankle]
Eriksson is also out, though only for
just over a week. Rosenberg is our only fit striker!
Kim Seung-Gyu's injury proved to be
nothing more than a knock, thankfully