Ljungberg inspires Umeå victory

After missing last year's final through suspension, Hanna Ljungberg underlined her worth to Umeå IK by scoring twice and creating two more goals in a 4-1 UEFA Women's Cup first-leg victory against Fortuna Hjørring.

Madsen opener
The loss of the Sweden striker, now 24, for the 2002 showpiece was pivotal as 1. FFC Frankfurt ran out 2-0 winners. How Fortuna must have hoped she had been missing today as she first cancelled out Janne Madsen's opener before putting Umeå 2-1 ahead just after the break. Frida Österberg and Laura Kalmari both capitalised on Ljungberg assists to complete the scoring.

Record crowd
Despite the lopsided look of the scoreline, it was Fortuna, the Danish side making their debut in European competition, who settled first. Thus it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 20th minute through their 25-year-old striker Madsen. The record 7,600 Gammliavallen crowd were stunned, but found their voices to inspire Umeå to equalise in the 39th minute, with Ljungberg on target.

Precise cross
The same player, who struck a record 39 goals in last season's Swedish Allsvenskan, put Umeå ahead in the 49th minute, converting from close range from a Sanna Valkonen flick-on. From this point on Umeå were irrepressible and never looked in danger of relinquishing their lead. Indeed, it took them only a further four minutes to move 3-1 in front when Österberg headed in Ljungberg's precise cross.

Hat-trick chance
Fortuna simply could not deal with Ljungberg's tireless effort both on and off the ball and when she rattled the bar with a powerful strike in the 63rd minute, Finnish forward Kalmari was on hand to stab home the rebound. The first leg could have ended with a deserved Ljungberg hat-trick but another effort bounced to safety off a post in the dying moments.

'It feels great'
Victorious coach Richard Holmlund, whose side will be overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy in Hjørring on 21 June, said of the victory: "It feels great. We were poor for the first 25 minutes or so but then worked our way into the game. We will have to stay focused for the second leg."

'Good start'
Alison Forman, Fortuna's veteran midfield player and a former captain of Australia, felt Ljungberg's brilliance was the difference between the two sides. "We got off to a good start but we had difficulties coping with Umeå's pace. When Hanna Ljungberg plays like she did today any team will have a hard time."