Magic minute favours Malmö

By Jan Juhlin

In the end, the destiny of the 2004 Allsvenskan title was decided in a 45-second spell in the final game of the season as Malmö FF beat Halmstads BK to the title.

Big finale
Pre-season favourites Malmö were being held 0-0 in front of 27,000 fans by IF Elfsborg. With news having filtered through that Halmstad were 1-0 up against IFK Göteborg, it seemed like Jan Andersson's side were cruising to the title.

Decisive moments
However, the news of IFK's 53rd-minute equaliser had barely had time to filter through before Malmö took the lead as Jon-Inge Höiland stabbed home a loose ball after Niklas Skoog's penalty was blocked. They held on to their lead, while Halmstad failed to regain theirs, and the title was won.

Early favourites
At the start of the season, such news would have come as no surprise. Even though they had not added to their tally of 14 Swedish titles in the preceding 16 years, the signings of Patrik Andersson, Afonso Alves and Igor Sypniewski were sufficient to see Malmö pencilled in as pre-season favourites.

Halmstad form
However, they made an indifferent start and as the Swedish campaign took a break for UEFA EURO 2004™, Halmstad were on top. Yet to lose a game, they were five points ahead of second-placed Hammarby and fully nine points clear of Malmö.

Strong team
Andersson had created a strong team lead by the enigmatic Sharbel Touma and Marcus Rosenberg, the on-loan Malmö striker who ended the season as Sweden's top scorer. With champions Djurgårdens IF struggling as coach Zoran Lukic was sacked and replaced with Kjell Jonevret, it seemed Halmstad could cruise to the title.

Malmö reborn
However, after EURO 2004™, Malmö were reborn. The troublesome Sypniewski left the club, and Alves and Skoog began to forge a fearsome partnership. At the same time, Halmstad floundered, picking up just two points from their first four games after the resumption.

IFK run
For a while it seemed Halmstad, Malmö and Hammarby would be battling for the crown, only for Hammarby's form to tail off, allowing IFK to join the top three after a run of seven straight victories. Indeed, striker George Mourad's goals helped draw them level on points with Malmö with three games to go.

Final games
Those final three games were to prove decisive. IFK's title hopes were dashed by defeats against GIF Sundsvall and Malmö, while Halmstad seemed the side most likely to triumph after beating Kalmar FF and Helsingborgs IF in the run-up to their fateful final-day draw against IFK.

AIK relegated
However, Malmö's championship celebrations were almost overshadowed by the relegation of Stockholm giants AIK Solna. A 3-0 defeat against Örgryte IS in their 25th match of the season saw them condemned to join Trelleborgs FF in the second division.

Royal appointment
The season is not over yet for the top four teams in Sweden, however. The new Royal League will be contested between the best sides in Norway, Sweden and Denmark over the winter, with fourth-placed Djurgården joining Malmö, Halmstad and IFK as Sweden's representatives.