Åtvidaberg won for the third week in a row to become the surprise leaders of the Allsvenskan.

Åtvidaberg rises to the top
OK, Åtvidaberg is NOT going to win the 2012 Allsvenskan and Viktor Prodell is NOT going to lead the league in scoring, but it sure looks that way after three games into the season.
Newcomers Åtvidaberg won their third straight game to open the 2012 campaign, whipping Gefle 6-1 April 11 at Kopparvallen. AFF has the full nine points from its first three matches and has scored 12 goals and Prodell has four of those goals.
The 24-year-old midfielder/forward scored twice against Gefle to go with his two-goal performance in the season opener against Örebro. He notched both of his goals against Gefle in the first half as Åtvidaberg built 3-0 lead in the first 45 minutes. Magnus Eriksson also scored in the opening stanza, the first of his two goals in the match.
Gefle showed brief signs of life after the break. Mikael Dahlberg scored four minutes into the second half to cut the deficit to 3-1. ALberis da Silva scored his first career Allsvenskan goal in the 64th minute to put Åtvidaberg back up by four goals. Kristian Bergström made the score 5-1 just two minutes later. Eriksson completed the shellacking when he scored his second goal of the game at the 73-minute mark.
Åtvidaberg is the only team with maximum points after the first three rounds of the league. AFF built its team around a cast of relative unknown players, few of whom had any Allsvenskan experience coming into the season. It hasn’t slowed the newcomers down. AFF scored four goals in its first match before “only” notching a brace in Round 2 against GAIS. The six-goal outburst April 11 is the most goals any team has scored so far this season.
Despite the showy stats, the chances Åtvidaberg will be near the top of the league are relatively slim. AFF simply doesn’t have the economic clout to compete with big-market teams in Stockholm, Göteborg and Skane and its relatively inexperienced side has yet to have deal with losing. It is lesson Åtvidaberg is sure to learn, but for now, its fans can enjoy the dream.

Malmö claims first win in 2012
Who says Friday the 13th is unlucky? Certainly no one around Malmö FF, which topped Kalmar 2-0 on (Friday) April 13 at the Swedbank Arena.
It wasn’t the prettiest win, but that didn’t matter much to head coach Rikard Norling, who wanted to avoid the slow start that cost Malmö the title last year. The 2010 champions didn’t win their first match until May last season, and by the time they put a notch in the ‘W’ column, Helsingborg already held a commanding lead in points.
The Sky Blues also looking for a measure of revenge following their 5-0 pounding at the hands (and feet) and Häcken in Round 2. Malmö also went into its third game still looking for its first goal of 2012 and for the first 45 minutes against Kalmar, it looked as though Malmö would have to wait another week for both a win and a goal.
Daniel Larsson put an end to any worries of another loss and shutout when he scored the first goal of the season for Malmö halfway into the second. Larsson struck in the 64th minute off a pass from Simon Thern. Jimmy Durmaz made the score 2-0 five minutes later when he headed in a pass from Jiloan Hamad.
Larsson’s goal snapped Malmö’s 244 minute scoreless streak. For Kalmar, the result was the second straight loss.

IFK Göteborg grabs first point of season
It wasn’t exactly the result Göteborg wanted, but a point is a point.
IFK Göteborg, with its star-studded lineup, picked up first point of the season April 9 with a last-second draw with AIK at Råsunda Stadium. The Blåvitt, which the Swedish media has dubbed “Real” Göteborg in deference to its lineup, looked like anything but potential champions in their first two matches. Göteborg lost its season opener to lowly Syrianska then lost its home opener against Norrköping. In their first game against a championship-caliber opponent, IFK looked somewhat tentative and played much of the first half trying to not to lose as opposed to trying to win. AIK also didn’t look to be in too much of a hurry to put its stamp on the match, although the longer the game remained scoreless, the better it was for the home side. AIK has a habit of eking out one-goal victories and when Pontus Engblom put the Gnaget in front after 68 minutes, it looked as though AIK would cruise to the win.
The goal, however, awoke Göteborg and the Blåvitt slowly began to apply pressure on AIK net minder
Ivan Turina. Göteborg nearly waited too long to find the net – Hjalmar Jonsson equalized three minutes into stoppage time.
Jonsson jumped on a rebound that Turina couldn’t handle and AIK’s back line could not clear. Göteborg goalkeeper John Alvbåge said he doubted whether the draw would quiet any of the team’s critics.
“We could win every game and no one would be happy,” Alvbåge said. “There are a lot of expectations on this team and on the players and I don’t think it matters how well we play, someone will always say we can do better.”

In other matches:

Elfsborg 2, Norrköping 0
BORÅS – Goals on either side of the interval gave Elfsborg a 2-0 win over IFK Norrköping April 12 at Borås Arena. Lars Nilsson put Elfsborg on top 1-0 in the 42nd minute. Viktor Claesson made it 2-0 when he tallied at the 56-minute mark. The victory was the second of the season for Elfsborg while Peking suffered its first loss.

Häcken 4, Mjällby
GÖTEBORG – Waris Majeed scored twice for the second straight week to lead BK Häcken to a 4-2 win over Mjällby April 12 at Rambergsvallen. Majeed scored twice in Round 2 as Häcken whipped Malmö 5-0 and against Mjällby, he scored a pair of second –half goals to seal the victory over Mjällby. Rene Makondele and Tom Soderberg scored in the first half as Häcken built a 2-1 lead. Pär Eriksson talled for Mjällby in the opening session. Wajeed scored his first goal in the 57th minute to put Häcken up 3-1. Dominique Kivuvu cut the lead to 3-2 in the 70th before Majeed tallied in the 77th minute.

Sundsvall 4, Syrianska 1
SUNDSVALL – Pa Amat Didda scored twice to lead Sundsvall to its first win of the season, a 4-0 whitewashing of Syrianska April 12 at Norrporten Arena. Didda scored once in each half. The goals were his first in the Allsvenskan. Kevin Walker and Fredrik Holster also scored for Sundsvall.

Örebro 0, Helsingborg 0
ÖREBRO – Defending champions Helsingborg picked up a point April 11 with a scoreless draw at Örebro at Behrn Arena. Örebro remained winless on the season with the result.

GAIS 0, Djurgården 0
GÖTEBORG – Djurgården had a player ejected for the second straight match as it played to a scoreless draw with GAIS April 11 at Gamla Ullevi. Daniel Sjolund received a red card in the 62nd minute after his second bookable offense. GAIS had a man advantage for 28 minutes but could not turn its edge into a goal and remained winless on the season.