Estonian national team goalkeeper Matvei Igonen made his debut in the Swedish Allsvenskan on Saturday after recently signing with Degerfors IF, but it was a baptism of fire as his new team suffered a heavy 0–3 home defeat to GAIS.
The 28-year-old shot-stopper, who spent the past 18 months playing in Bulgaria’s top division with Botev Plovdiv, was handed a start in goal just days after officially joining Degerfors. However, things unraveled quickly for the new signing.
GAIS opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a well-placed cross from the left, finding Canadian forward Matteo de Brienne completely unmarked in front of goal. De Brienne made no mistake, heading home to give the visitors a 1–0 lead. The goal stung particularly hard, as just moments earlier Erik Lindell had a golden chance to put Degerfors in front, only to fire his shot straight at the GAIS goalkeeper with the net wide open.
Statistically, Degerfors dominated much of the first half, but failed to make it count, heading into the break still trailing by a single goal.
The second half began disastrously for the home side. In the 52nd minute, another cross from the left led to an own goal — this time by Degerfors defender Juhani Pikkarainen, who inadvertently turned the ball into his own net past a helpless Igonen.
Just ten minutes later, things went from bad to worse. A defensive error allowed Ibrahim Diabate — the league’s top scorer — to break through one-on-one with Igonen. The Ivory Coast striker clinically finished for his 12th goal in 16 matches, sealing a commanding win for GAIS.
No further goals were scored, and Igonen’s debut in Sweden’s top flight ended in disappointment with a 0–3 defeat. For Degerfors, it marked their seventh straight league loss, leaving them 14th out of 16 in the Allsvenskan standings with 13 points.
Igonen and his teammates will hope to stop the slide next Saturday, when they host IFK Norrköping — a crucial clash against a team just two points ahead of them in the table.
