Wahlberg: Will have to get used to being called the gold favorite

Hammarby won against Värnamo after a late goal by substitute Elohim Kaboré.

Here are Malin Wahlberg’s five points after the match.

check Värnamo at home – a nightmare for Hammarby 

Värnamo at home has become a bit of a boogey team for Hammarby. The team has lost three straight Allsvenskan meetings against Smålandslaget at 3 arenas. Two of the times Kim Hellberg has been on the other side.

Although Värnamo cruised against Elfsborg last time out and kept their first clean sheet of the season, there was not much to suggest that the statistics would continue. Not even the fact that Hammarby made a late return offer for Pavle Vagic, who was missing due to an injury.

check Celebrated the red card

After two opening minutes where Värnamo had the ball, it was, as expected, Hammarby who led the match.

Ajdin Zelkovic had Värnamo’s best chance to break the deadlock after just over a quarter of an hour when the ball dropped in front of him in the penalty area, but the shot was a real miss. Otherwise, it was just Hammarby.

When Rufai Mohammed intercepted a free Sebastian Tounetki and was sent off in the 19th minute, there was nothing to suggest that Värnamo would succeed in a new feat at the 3rd arena.

Jusef Erabi celebrated as if Hammarby had won the match after the red card and it was no wonder. The striker knew what this meant. There was no way Värnamo would survive 70 minutes with one man less.

check Hammarby utbuat i paus 

Värnamo also went straight into Hammarby’s meat grinder, which started grinding. The feeling was that it would just continue, but the longer the half went on, the more it disappeared. In fact, it didn’t even seem like the home team was one more man on the field.

Markus Karlsson had Hammarby’s best chance after Nahir Besara, in his 200th match in the Bajen shirt, found the net with a cross in the 36th minute, but the shot went wide. Värnamo defended well and created more than expected. Victor Eriksson didn’t look like the best centre-back in the Allsvenskan of all time when he twice headed Pawel Cibicki into dangerous chances.

The Hammarby supporters made it clear what they thought of the effort after the half-time whistle and the players looked equally unhappy as they headed towards the locker room.

check The hope of success saved Bajen

After an equally tentative first quarter in the second half, Kim Hellberg sent in the best he had offensively. Erabi and Madjed had to leave in favor of Abdelrahman Boudah and Elohim Kaboré.

But the clock was ticking fast for Hammarby who couldn’t make it work. Tounekti switched sides to test Axel Björnström’s warning, Boudah shoveled away a good shot and Kaboré had a header without the same sharpness as against Häcken.

That time.

In the 85th minute, Oscar Johansson made Schella’s comeback after a long injury absence. After just over a minute on the pitch, he was inches away from becoming the match hero when he rose high in the air and headed the ball into the post.

It could have been the chance that was the difference between a big miscalculation and catching Mjällby at the top.

Unless Boudah sent a perfect cross to Kaboré. He once again reached the highest point in the air and with both power and precision was able to score a redemptive 1–0 to perhaps the biggest goal celebration in 3 arenas so far this season.

Another success for Kaboré that will not make Hammarby supporters scream for him any less. The striker has now scored two goals in 86 minutes played in the Allsvenskan.

check Favorite in the gold battle

It would not be possible for Värnamo to resist and despite a real fighting effort, it did not work either. The giants remain four points below the bottom of the table and it is difficult to see what will be able to save them from relegation this season.

For Hammarby, the situation is the opposite. The effort was not impressive, but the three-pointer still weighs just as heavily.

Bajen is still only one point behind Mjällby at the top and the green and whites will probably have to get used to being called gold favorites during the fall.