Svensson seals Swedish delight

Potsdam shocked
Djurgården/Älvsjö looked down and out at half-time after Cristiane and Conny Pohlers had given holders 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam a useful lead. Yet the visitors staged an impressive recovery in the final 12 minutes through Linda Fagerström, Laura Kalmari and Svensson to take a priceless lead ahead of Sunday's return at the Råsunda stadium.

Christiane opener
Both teams started the match nervously and neither managed to take the upper hand in the early exchanges. However, that soon changed when Cristiane gave the home side the lead on eleven minutes. The Brazil striker was first to the ball when Therese Brogårde failed to deal with a Petra Wimbersky cross and watched in delight as her shot took a deflection off Elin Ekblom and diverted past Maja Åström.

Pohlers skill
Just as the Swedish champions seemed to be settling, Potsdam struck again. Pohlers, who scored three goals in last season's two-legged final, shook off Brogårde on the edge of the area before beating Åström with a delicate chip from the edge of the area. Potsdam were now on top with their one-touch football becoming more of a problem for the visitors. The defending champions almost did further damage seven minutes before the break but Anja Mittag's volley from the edge of the area was cleared off the line.

Fresh strikers
With his side still trailing by two goals, Djurgården/Älvsjö coach Benny Persson decided to send on fresh strikers midway through the second half. Sara Johansson replaced Ekblom and shortly afterwards Kalmari took over from Ann-Marie Norlin. The changes paid off 12 minutes from the end when the Potsdam defence was finally breached. Britta Carlsson's attempted clearance fell to Svensson, who squared the ball for Fagerström to score.

Kalmari equaliser
Four minutes from the end Djurgården/Älvsjö improved their position further when Kalmari found herself in space on the edge of the area, and her shot took a deflection off Jennifer Zietz and eluded Nadine Angerer. Potsdam, like their opponents, had not conceded more than once in a game in this season's competition.

Svensson strike
Djurgården/Älvsjö, though, scored a third in the dying moments with the home team pushing forward. Johansson broke down the right wing, found Svensson in the area and the Swedish international spun around two Potsdam defenders before sealing victory for her side. "It's a fantastic feeling to score a goal like that and turn the game around," Svensson said. "We worked hard and in the end it paid off. Now we're in with a good chance but there's a lot of hard work still to be done."