“It’s like when Manchester United play Chelsea,” he said. “We completely cancel each other out.”

Helsingborg and Elfsborg engaged in a tense, often tentative match in HIF’s home opener, with just an own goal in the 62nd minute separating the two teams.

“Both teams were so afraid of making a mistake they went out and did everything they could to prevent the other team from really doing anything,” Karlsson said. “I really expected a much more open kind of game.”

A mistake is all that separated the two teams as Helsingborg capitalized on own goal to grab the win. Alexander Gerndt initially received credit for a goal at the 62-minute mark when he apparently banked a shot off the leg off Elfsborg defender Anton Lans. The official scorer, however, ruled it own goal. Either way, the goal gave HIF a 1-0 lead.

Ten minutes later, Elfsborg had a golden chance to equalize. Helsingborg and Swedish international defender Peter Larsson used his hand to control a pass inside the penalty area and referee Jonas Eriksson awarded a penalty kick.
Stefan Ishizaki strode the spot to the kick only to put his shot wide of the goal.
The win have Helsingborg a 2-0 record at the start of the season while Elfsborg fell to 1-0-1.

“It’s disappointing to leave Olympia without at least point,” said Elfsborg manager Magnus Haglund. “We see them again in 10 rounds, so we’ll see what happens.”
By Chipp Reid

Häcken 3, Göteborg 1
GÖTEBORG – Häcken scored three times in a 15-minute span to clobber IFK Goteborg 3-1 April 10 at Rambergsvallen. Tobias Hysén gave Göteborg a 1-0 first-half lead but Jonas Bjurstrom equalized three minutes after the interval. Rene Makondele Muzola put Häcken on top in the 55th minute while Mattias Ranegie made it 3-1 at the 64-minute mark.

Helsingborg 1, Elfsborg 0
HELSINGBORG – An own goal was all the difference in a battle between title contenders as Helsingborg topped Elfsborg April 10 at Olympia Stadium. Alexander Gerndt struck the shot at banked into the net off Anton Lans’ leg. Stefan Ishizaki had a chance to tie the game but missed a penalty kick.

AIK 3, Mjällby 0
SOLNA – Ibrahim Bangura scored twice to lead AIK to a 3-0 won April 9 over Mjällby at Råsunda Stadion. Victor Lundberg put AIK top in the 40th minute before Bangura scored just a minute later. He added a second goal at the 62-minute mark.

Gefle 2, Norrköping
GÄVLE – Gefle scored just after the opening whistle and right before the final whistle to knock off IFK Norrköping 2-0 April 9 at Strömvallen. Daniel Theorin scored in the 11th minute while Hans Berggren tallied eight minutes from time.

GAIS 4, Trelleborg 0
GÖTEBORG – GAIS went Brazilian on Trelleborg in its home opener at Gamla Ullevi, knocking off its visitors 4-0 on April 9. Alvaro Santos had a pair of goals while Wanderson do Carmo had a goal and three assist to lead GAIS to the win. Mervan Celik also scored for GAIS.

Örebro 1, Syrianska 0
ÖREBRO – Alejandro Bedoya scored on a half-volley to lead Örebro to a 1-0 win over Syrianska April 8 in its home opener at the Behrn Arena. Bedoya, a U.S. international, struck at the 62-minute mark of the game.

Malmö 3, Halmstad 1
MALMÖ – Spanish football fell flat once again as Malmö scored three second-half goals to knock of Halmstad 3-1 April 11 at Swedbank Arena. Halmstad, with five Spanish players, took a 1-0 lead just before the interval through Jónas Gudni Sævarsson. Agon Mehmeti tied the score in the 59th minute. Jeffrey Aubynn put Malmö in front three minutes later. Miljan Mutavdzi scored his first goal for Malmö to make it 3-1 in the 84th minute.

Kalmar 3, Djurgården 2
KALMAR – Ricardo Santos had a goal and an assist as Kalmar celebrated the opening of new Guldfågel Arena with a 3-2 win over Djurgården. DIF defender Joona Toivo won the honor of scoring the first-ever goal at the stadium when he struck off a corner kick in the 22nd minute. Kristoffer Fagercrantz tied the game seven minutes later. Santos then took over, setting up fellow Brazilian Daniel Sobrelense for the go-ahead goal in the 59th minute. Santos scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 84th minute. Carl Björk made the last minutes interesting as he tallied for DIF two minutes from time.