ELFSBORG’S BEST EFFORT – EVER?
IF Elfsborg has been responsible for a series of first-class efforts since Oscar Hiljemark took over the club last summer. It has led all the way to one of the club’s absolute biggest matches ever. It was played on Thursday evening when AS Roma visited Borås’ arena in the Europa League league game.
Then the Italian giant had a big upper hand in the first 10-15 minutes, where Elfsborg clearly had a lot of respect for their opponent.
Elfsborg then lined up three hot goal chances against Roma’s zero – before Michael Baidoo was able to put in 1-0 from the penalty spot to a giant goal celebration with 43 minutes played.
After the break, Elfsborg had to devote themselves to much more defensive play, where heroic efforts were mixed up with a certain dose of well-deserved fluency (among other things at Lorenzo Pellegrini’s cross-rib hit) – which ultimately laid the foundation for one of Swedish football’s greatest hits.
In terms of opposition, has Elfsborg ever played a better match? Borås have certainly defeated Lazio at home with 1-0 (2009). But I doubt that the Roma performance would be anything other than at least as good – because this was absolutely brilliant from a pre-calculated Elfsborg.
THE KEY TO VICTORY: THE SUPER BROTHERS ZENELI
Arber Zeneli, 29, returned home to Elfsborg last winter, but has had difficulty finding his way fully. Little brother Besfort Zeneli, 21, was far from a starting eleven until the summer break when Jimmy Thelin was replaced by Oscar Hiljemark on the coaching bench.
The latter has been a big sensation since Hiljemark’s first matches in July. Arber Zeneli has had to wait for his chance – before finally warming up in the last month.
Against Roma, the “super brothers” were exceptionally good.
Arber was behind just about everything offensively for Elfsborg before the break. If he wasn’t setting up teammates for great chances, he was dribbling past Serie A defenders as if it were the easiest thing in the world to create space for his own chances.
Big brother Zeneli crouched slightly after the break and was replaced with an hour played. But the effort in the first half itself was so high-class that it laid the foundation for Elfsborg’s entire giant match. Then he took the whole team on his shoulders and broke that all-important barrier to show that the resistance was de facto human.
At the same time, Besfort made a big impression on Elfsborg’s midfield. The game engine didn’t look the least bit nervous and served ball after ball in depth to kick-start Elfsborg’s conversion game. With that performance, he guaranteed to open the eyes of one or two scouts on site at Borås’ arena.
THE EVENT OF THE MATCH
It is difficult – nay impossible – not to point to anything other than the goal jubilation that took place at Borås’ arena when Michael Baidoo put in 1-0 to Elfsborg from the penalty spot before the break. As the whole stadium was rocking then.
In perhaps Elfsborg’s biggest ever penalty kick, the striker was as cool as he could be when he waited out Mile Svilar and cleverly placed the ball the other way.
THE QUESTION MARK
How much did Roma want this – really? The Italian big club has had a difficult start to the season, which led to player legend Daniele De Rossi having to leave his coaching position. Since then, new coach Ivan Juric has gone unbeaten through two wins and a draw.
Roma probably felt that regardless of the result at the Borås arena, they will have a good chance of securing promotion from the Europa League league play. It testified, if nothing else, to six changes in the starting eleven – with a star-studded bench – about.
At the same time, it takes nothing away from Elfsborg’s effort, where the feeling was that the Borås’ level surprised Roma roughly. Despite the Italians’ double losses against Bodö/Glimt in the 2021/22 season, they had not done their homework and once again underestimated a yellow-coloured, Scandinavian artificial grass team.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH (in Elfsborg)
1. Arber Zeneli. Justification above.
2. Besfort Zeneli. Justification above.
3. Timothy Ouma. Had a physical advantage also against top international players. The pace and drive were of great benefit to Elfsborg – as well as the game intelligence and the defensive effort. He also guaranteed to impress the occasional scout at Borås’ arena.
In the end, a whole bunch of players (Baidoo, Henriksson, and Pettersson to name a few) deserved a spot on this list, but the above players ultimately stood out the most.
