Gamla Ullevi - Gothenburg - Allsvenskan

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⟸⚽ 9' Tolf

90+5' Jäger 🟥⟹

Gamla Ullevi - Gothenburg

Friday 9th of October - 7pm

Match attendance: 16,213

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Summary

I have now been to see all of the Gothenburg 'Alliance' teams play at home this season.

IFK Göteborg have had a good turn-around of fortunes since Joachim Björklund joined as head coach in July (78 apps for Sweden. Played for Rangers at the same time as Gazza. He also had spells at Valencia & Sunderland among other clubs).

Västerås have had an impressive first season back in Allsvenskan, performing easily the best of all of the promoted sides. Although I can't see them troubling the top 3, they are on course for a comfortable mid-table finish.

It was nice to see two teams trying to play positive football. IFK were more direct, with VSK playing some nice intricate passes. However, neither teams created many clear cut chances. The end was exciting though with the Västerås GK being sent off after giving away a penalty (and being replaced by a defender), only for Sam Larsson to blast over. IFK have won 5 matches in a row and are now joint on points with Västerås in the table.

There was a delay at the start of the second-half due to (an illegal) pyrotechnics show from the IFK fans, and then a further delay waiting for the smoke to clear. This is a common occurrence at Swedish football matches.

Team form

IFK Göteborg D W W W W

Västerås SK D W L W W

League table

1st: IK Sirius - Pld 22. 51 pts

2nd: Hammarby IF - Pld 22. 43 pts

3rd: Djurgårdens IF - Pld 22. 41 pts

4th: IF Elfsborg - Pld 22. 37 pts

5th: BK Häcken - Pld. 22. 36 pts

6th: Västerås SK - Pld 22. 35 pts

7th: Malmö FF - Pld 22. 33 pts

8th: AIK - Pld 22. 33 pts

9th: IFK Göteborg - Pld 22. 32 pts

10th: GAIS - Pld 22. 30 pts

11th: IF Brommapojkarna - Pld 22. 27 pts

12th: Mjällby AIF - Pld 22. 22 pts

13th: Kalmar FF - Pld 22. 19 pts

14th: Degerfors IF - Pld 22. 19 pts

15th: Örgryte IS - Pld 22. 15 pts

16th: Halmstads BK - Pld 22. 14 pts

(Table standings from before match)

Explainer: Swedish football pyramid

Ground

Gamla Ullevi is a modern purpose built football stadium that is shared by the 'Alliance' teams in Gothenburg (GAIS, IFK Göteborg & Örgryte IS). The name means 'old' Ullevi, which causes a lot of confusion as it is the newer stadium in Gothenburg. It replaced the original Gamla Ullevi, and the name was kept. It is a good stadium for watching football with a good atmosphere, but otherwise it lacks any character (similar to many modern football stadiums). There are plans to extend the stadium to increase the capacity, but no decision has been made yet.