Hammarby chasing SM gold, AIK chasing the shadow of themselves.
The derby took off, swayed, and ended in devastating darkness.
Nobody caught.
Sometimes the sky can be gray, the grass is quite damp, the whole place is shaking with electricity and darkness. AIK Against Hammarby at Allsvenskan, it would have been a fateful episode of Game of Thrones.
A week ago, the atmosphere around AIK was such that many wished for a lackluster European qualification and something other than a big derby loss, but then came Henoch Joytoma brave team selection, an effective training start in Norrköping and suddenly …
… Well, suddenly nothing particularly impossible was left.
Autumn is coming, here House Cifuentes have dropped their ideas of censored Spanish football – and House Goitom has rushed right in.
He was like a wet cat
The new AIK coach knows his book on Iberian football, he’s learned from Mendilibar and Pep Juanma Lillo’s mentor, he wants to play ball. Now he had to try to do it without Yassin al-Ayari with a thigh injury, but he sold Ammar Abd al-Rahman Ahmad, causing the mood to differ more than it should. Hammarby wanted to dominate the match, breathing first and hitting the gas later. AIK pressed the board to the carpet from the start, as it was their best chance after a week where, according to Goitom, they were mostly able to “walk around Karlberg” between matches.
How did it go?
Fine.
After a hundred seconds and a stereotypical attack (Nicolas Stefanelli on Eric Ring, a late save from John Guidetti, ending the class) they made it 1-0. Gedity wet as a kitten, happy as a new survivor, when he celebrated seemed like a bank clerk emerging from unusually sweaty – but cute! – Night at Garbos in Sundbyberg.
AIK’s match plan was about this. It’s not about scoring goals before people are seated, of course, but about pressing, pushing and blocking the game through Darijan Bojanic and young substitute Gibbe Andersen Albert Demirol. After half-and-half, Gediti couldn’t hold out any longer, Jesper Sesay came along and Ike became better at weight, even worse at stumbling.
He was responsible for one of the absolute best efforts of the year
Hammarby’s ideas were completely different, and here they should be tested.
2-3-2-3 when they had possession of the ball, with the defense of the center wing and two wide wings in Gustav Ludwigson and Abd al-Rahman al-Saidi. They managed decently to turn play against Erick Otieno on the left flank of AIK, and even worse with flipping Saidi on the other side, and not at all with Veton Berisha activating in the middle.
Tighten it up, the eight-month-old Hammarby’s way she faced a newborn, but he was kicking AIK. Heavy on safety.
Once the safety was attached, it wasn’t too difficult to see what was attached to the feet. Darijan Bojaniks, Naher Bisaras. Not only because they blocked Hammarby’s first successful right-and-left turn, which made the score 1-1 just before the break – but because they played this match with their own synchronized frequency.
Bojanic has this ability to play explosive soccer while looking like he does it in his softest dress and soles. This was a masterful lesson in understanding stance, passing, acceleration, and composure. For just over an hour, he was responsible for one of the absolute best player efforts of the year at Allsvenskan.
Baggen loaded into the match, and put a rhythm into it that they get to know.
It was AIK’s chance to blow it up. Henok Goitom played chess in the first half, allowing Bilal Hussein and Jesper Sesay to change positions to rule at the front.
How did it go?
Well, again.
I couldn’t win
A few seconds later Stefanelli sent 2-1 through Baggen’s leg, then Hammarby had to start rolling the stone up the mountain again.
You have to realize that this mountain is higher now than it was a week ago. AIK looks mean again, brave and has a completely different belief. Lately it’s been hard to even see them being able to play this kind of total game, and now they’ve been fighting to win it, led by Nicholas Stefanelli and Sebastian Larsson, who both seemed to be able to do as much as possible. That’s not to say they were impressed, from a game point of view, it’s a long way from what they should be able to – but after a week of tinkering and tinkering, they were at least able to do derby day work at Allsvenskan.
They just can’t win.
An hour later, Bojanic caressed a quarterback pass behind the AIK defense line, Fotun Berisha found so far suddenly blunt inner Bebo Inzaghi, well-timed run, a ball on his chest, snowy finish, 2-2. Henok Goitom has won one Mach, lost one, and now leads AIK to a tie as well.
It’s incredibly sad
Hammarby has come further than AIK, but it has come further than Häcken. And when the final whistle blew, the violent boys immersed in the stands set Swedish pro-culture back two decades.
– We showed our identity today, said Marti Cifuentes, who was very proud of his players.
So did the violent boys. In a derby that no one has won, finding who to lose has never been easier.
It’s incredibly sad.
