Sise’s Nordsjælland falters away from home

Gambia-hopeful Joe Sise and his Danish Superligaen outfit FC Nordsjælland dropped points in their second game since the turn of the New Year after a 1-0 defeat at SønderjyskE.

Nordsjælland dominated chances throughout much of the first half, coming close in the 18th minute when Tobias Pilegaard Mikkelsen’s attempted lob was just high, then six minutes later when he broke free towards goal but shot wide.

It was SønderjyskE who managed to take the lead, however when a corner from Daniel Christensen found the head of Hallgrímur Jónasson, whose shot left keeper Jesper Hansen no chance for a save in the 38th minute.

The unexpected goal brought the hosts to life, and while they failed to score again, they dominated the game for the remainder and entirely neutralized any Nordsjælland attacks.

The Wild Tigers [Nordsjælland] now have a six-point gap behind Copenhagen in the race for the league title, however still are in pole position of teams looking to claim the league’s second Champions League place. They will be back in action soon when they visit fourth-place Midtjylland.

Meanwhile, champions Helsingborg and Djurgården claimed their first wins of the new Allsvenskan season after victories over Amadou Jawo’s Elfsborg and Pa Dibba’s GIF Sundsvall respectively.

Alfred Finnbogason’s double helped Helsingborg to a 2-1 home win over Elfsborg while Per Johan Sebastian Rajalakso scored the only goal as Kebba Ceesay’s Djurgården beat Pa Dibba’s Sundsvall 1-0.

Finnbogason’s 15th-minute opener was cancelled out by Niklas Hult just before half-time but he popped up for the winner 13 minutes from the end. Elfsborg’s day got worse with Anders Svensson sent off in injury time.

Rajalakso netted his winner after just five minutes as Djurgården held out to leave newly-promoted Sundsvall without a point after two games.

At the Nya Gamla Ullevi in Göteborg, Modou Barrow’s IFK Norrköping came from behind to win 2-1 against IFK Göteborg thanks to Shpetim Hasani’s brace while Omar Jawo’s Syrianska were held to a 1-1 draw by his former team Gefle at the Strömvallen.