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On Thursday Djurgården played at home against Europa FC Gibraltar in the second round of the Europa League qualifying round. It was a thriller for the blue spirits, despite the opposing team only playing one match in the last six months due to the corona pandemic.
At 39 minutes, the home team received a penalty. Kalle Holmberg knocked down a player from the visiting team. But then goalkeeper Per Kristian Bråtveit stepped forward and saved Liam Walker’s attempt from the point.
Soon after, Djurgården also made it 1-0. Midfielder Curtis Edwards stopped immediately after a boxing from the Europe goalkeeper and saw the ball go into the net.
But it would not be an easy journey to go through it. In the 58th minute, Europe drew 1-1. A loose ball entered Djurgården’s penalty area and then communication between goalkeeper Bråtveit and midfielder Jacob Une Larsson was broken, after which Adrian Gallardo was able to grab the ball and turn the tie into an open goal. A real invitation from the local team.
Four minutes later, European Alex Quillo was sent off, after arriving late in a duel with Haris Radetinac and receiving his second yellow card of the night. Then Djurgården went for another goal lead and arrived with 20 minutes to go. Fredrik Ulvestad was transferred to midfield when Jonathan Augustinsson was substituted in the 65th minute and the Norwegian fixed a penalty in the 69th minute. Ulvestad was convicted and then took the penalty himself. It surely put the 2-1 in a corner.
In the 81st minute, Europe came close to leveling 2-2. But then Djurgården was saved by the post with a wink from inside the penalty area.
Djurgården eventually won 2-1. Romanian Cluj now awaits in the third round of the Europa League qualifiers. Next week that game will be played at Tele2 Arena. The play-off round, the last one before the group stage, will be drawn on Friday.
– We’re further away and that’s what it’s all about, but it was a really miserable match up front in the second half, says Djurgården manager Thomas Lagerlöf on the Viaplay broadcast.
He continues:
– It was a strange match with a large number of interruptions and free throws against us in each aerial duel, at the same time it was choppy and the players were down. But I still think we were pretty calm until we made it 2-1 and we would play it with one more man.
– Then we offered a lot of settings and we set it up for ourselves. It was stable for 60 minutes, but in the end it was not good enough. We have to learn to be a little cooler in the end.
Djurgården Team: By Christian Bråtveit – Aslak Fonn Witry, Jacob Une Larsson, Fredrik Ulvestad, Elliot Käck – Curtis Edwards (Jonathan Augustinsson 65), Jesper Karlström – Haris Radetinac (Jonathan Ring 84), Magnus Eriksson, Edward Chilufya (Emir Kujovic 72) – Kalle Holmberg.
Europa FC: s delay: Call Munoz – Ethan Jolley, Olmo Gonzalez Casado, Alejandro Carrascal Avilés, Jayce Olivero – Juan Pedro Rico Dominguez (Michael Yome 79), David Alvarez Vazquez (Mitchell Dean Gibson 85), Marco Rosa (Kwadwo Poku 37), Alex Quillo – Adrian Gallardo Valdes , Liam Walker.
