Immediately after kick-off, the home team Kalmar got hold of the ball and turned to attack. However, they would soon get this back, because already in the next minute it was GAIS who attacked and Henriksson finished on goal. However, the ball caught a red and white defender and went out to the first corner of the match. Then, in the sixth minute, Kalmar made a half-bad pass, which Lindberg immediately rushed forward to snatch. He took the ball with him and ran alone from midfield to the home goal where he shot and put it in the lower top corner. 0-1!
GAIS had thus taken the lead early and they would continue with the same high pressure for the rest of the half that they displayed in the first few minutes. The midfield and forwards were constantly on their toes, ready to catch and drag any balls Kalmar didn’t immediately get control of and intercepted every sloppy pass. Lindberg played a brilliant game where he repeatedly chased into the staff area. The same applied to Henriksson and Cooper Love, who both tried several shots but nothing found the home.
Defensively, most things looked good, however, Kalmar could get a few attacks going as they looked for gaps to fit each other between GAIS players. For the most part, Norén or Frej were there to stop, while Wängberg and Wendin Thomasson were as aggressive on their edges as they were quick to work home. In the goal, however, Sims had to save or collect balls several times, in only his second Allsvenskan match.
GAIS kept up good pressure and worked wide, they stuck to simple passes throughout the first half and time and time again came close to extending the lead. However, there were no more goals, instead it was the home team that passed through GAIS’s defense and their attackers were then able to shoot undisturbed between Sims and the goal post. At halftime it was therefore 1-1, even though GAIS had been the more pressing team.
During the break, Lindberg went out as a result of feelings in the groin and Boudri came on. The half started with a more wobbly and slightly careless game from GAIS than they showed in the first half, which gave Kalmar several dangerous opportunities, including a free kick outside the goal area. The home team had now woken up and wanted to turn the game around, but GAIS resisted and in the 56th minute Boudri received a pass from Wendin Thomasson. Boudri turned towards the middle, dribbled past Kalmar’s defense and shot neatly straight into the net. 1-2!
There was will in both directions with attacks by GAIS followed by counterattacks by Kalmar. Around minute 65, a few agonizingly tense minutes followed when the game was completely stuck in front of the green-black cage. This ended with another dangerous free kick out wide by the home team. Then followed a triple change among the Athletes for some renewed energy going forward. Even around the 80th minute, some intense minutes followed in front of the GAIS goal which ended with Sims being able to pick the ball out of the air and create some breathing room.
It would be one more green-black goal. In the 87th minute, Milovanovic sent the ball to former Calamari Ahl-Holmström, who from a free kick showed his old team where the locker should be with a shot straight into the goal. 1-3! However, Kalmar were still hungry for an equaliser, and just four minutes later it was their turn to head the ball into GAIS’s goal for a reduction. With only a one-goal lead and a Kalmar team that seemed to have woken up, there was a lot of fighting in GAIS’s half during the extra time. However, the athletes held tight and the match was blown away for GAIS’s second, straight, Allsvenskan victory.
The match in brief:
The goals:
1-0 Jonas Lindberg
1-1 Jacob Trenskow
1-2 Amin Boudri
1-3 Alexander Ahl Holmström
2-3 Lars Sætera
The team: Sims – Wängberg, Norén, Frej, Wendin Thomasson – Henriksson (Milovanovic 66′), Ibrahim, Lindberg (Boudri 45′) – Lundgren (Gustavsson 86′), Cooper Love (Ahl Holmström 66′), Celik (Amatkariljo 66′)
Warnings (in GAIS): Ibrahim 78′
Audience: 3820 (gays only)
Photo: Bildbyrån / Suvad Mrkonjic
