Elfsborg took over the top spot of the Allsvenskan as it extended its winning streak to three.

Elfsborg moves to top of league
ÖREBRO – Elfsborg won its fourth match of the season and third straight, knocking off Örebro 2-0 April 23 at Behrn Arena, to take over first place in the Allsvenskan.
Although one of several preseason favorites, Elfsborg (4-0-1, 12 pts) managed to fly under the media radar while IFK Göteborg, with its star-studded lineup, struggled out of the gate. Those days are over as Elfsborg extended its early season winning streak to three straight with a 2-0 whitewash of Örebro April 23 at Behrn Arena.
The victory was about as convincing as any this season and started with Stefan Ishizaki scoring from 60 meters. The Elfsborg midfielder collected the ball inside his own half in the sixth minute of the match. When he looked up, he saw Örebro goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski had wandered far out of his own net. Ishizaki uncorked a blistering long-range shot that whisked past Chenciski, who tried in vain to get back in goal.
Elfsborg controlled the match from that point on as Örebro (0-3-2, 3 pts) simply played defense. Elfsborg was able to blunt every counterattack attempt from the home team, but could not convert its dominance into another goal, at least in the first half.
Amadou Jawo wasted little time when the second half opened as he scored just three minutes into the second session. Oscar Hiljemark set up the play with a free kick that Jawo redirected past Checinski for a 2-0 lead. The second goal essentially put the game beyond reach and Elfsborg cruised to the win.

Malmö wins third straight
MALMÖ – Three straight wins should make any manager happy but not Rikard Norling.
The Malmö head coach said despite his team’s 2-0 win over Syrianska April 23 at Swedbank Arena, he saw lots of room for improvement.
“We controlled the match but did not convert on many of our scoring chances,” Norling said. “We must improve our finishing.”
Malmö (3-1-1, 10 points) held possession for more than 70 percent of the match, moving the ball seemingly at will down and across the field. The final touch was missing, however, in front of the Syrianska (1-1-3, 4 pts) goal. Malmö fired six shots on goal in the first 20 minutes but it didn’t score until shot No. 7. Wilton Figueiredo knocked the ball into the net after Syrianska goalkeeper Lasse Straw mishandled a corner kick.
The match remained a game of sevens as Malmö would go on to outshoot Syrianska 21-4 in the match. Despite the overwhelming offensive assault, Malmö managed just one more goal. Jimmy Durmaz made the score 2-0 when he tallied in the 90th minute off a pass from Matthias Ranegie.
The was the third of the season for Durmaz.

In other matches:

Mjällby 4, Djurgården 3
SOLVESBORG – Mjällby (2-2-1, 8 points) raced out to a 4-0 lead then held on to beat Djurgården (1-1-3, 4 pts) 4-3 April 20 at Strandvallen. Pär Eriksson scored twice while Markus Ekenberg and Dominique Kivuvu had one goal each as Mjällby built a 4-0 lead by the 36th minute. James Keene got Djurgården on the scoreboard in the 43rd minute when he struck for his second goal of the season. Joona Toivio cut the lead in half when he tallied in the 59th minute. Kasper Hämäläinen made the score 4-3 when he struck at the 89-minute mark.

Helsingborg 2, Åtvidaberg 1
ÅTVIDABERG – Defending champions Helsingborg (2-2-1, 8 pts) handed Åtvidaberg (3-0-2, 9 pts) its second straight loss as Erik Sundin scored twice to lead HIF to a 2-1 win April 21 at Kopparvallen. Sundin, making his first start of the season, put Helsingborg in front after 65 minutes. Victor Prodell tied the in the 68th minute. The goal was his league-leading fifth goal of the season. Sundin struck for the game winner at the 70-minute mark.

GAIS 2, Norrköping 0
GÖTEBORG – GAIS (1-3-1, 6 pts) scored twice in two minutes to knock off IFK Norrköping (2-1-2, 7 pts) 2-0 April 21 at Gamla Ullevi Stadium. Wanderson do Carmo opened the scoring in first-half stoppage when he hit what could be the goal of the year. The Brazilian stripped Andreas Johansson of the ball in the center of the field and then dribbled around and through the Peking defense before blasting a shot from 25 yards into the upper corner of the net. Slightly more than a minute into the second half , Reuben Ayarna doubled the lead for GAIS when he scored his first goal of the season.

Gefle 1, Kalmar 0
KALMAR – Gefle (1-2-2, 5 pts) broke the Guldfågeln mystique, knocking off Kalmar (2-0-3, 6 pts) 1-0 April 21 at Kalmar’s home field. Jakob Orlov scored the lone goal of the match in the 72nd minute. The goal was third of the season. The loss was the second straight at Guldfågeln for Kalmar, which lost just once at home all of last season.

AIK 1, Sundsvall 1
SOLNA – AIK (2-3-0, 9 pts) remained unbeaten following a 1-1 draw with Sundsvall (1-2-2, 5 pts). Alexander Milosevic scored his first goal of the season for the Gnaget at the 15-minute mark. Kevin Walker tied the match for Sundsvall in the 66th minute.
by Chipp Reid