Estonian goalkeeper Matvei Igonen helped Degerfors end an 11-match winless run with a historic 2-1 away victory over Malmö FF in the Allsvenskan on Sunday. Elsewhere, Maksim Paskotši started the season in Belgium for Gent, while Vlasij Sinjavskij completed another full match in the Czech top flight.
Igonen played the full 90 minutes for Degerfors, making three saves from Malmö’s four shots on target as his side claimed their first league victory since May.
The visitors stunned the home crowd in spectacular fashion after 18 minutes when Dijan Vukojevic opened the scoring with an incredible strike from inside his own half.
Malmö equalised shortly after the restart. Igonen initially made a fine save from the first effort, but the rebound fell kindly to a home attacker who converted from close range.
Degerfors regained the lead in the 70th minute through Vukojević once again, and the Estonian goalkeeper produced two important saves during the closing stages to preserve a memorable victory.
The result was historic, with Degerfors recording their first away league win over Malmö since the 1954/55 Allsvenskan season.
The victory lifts Degerfors to 14th place in the 16-team table with 13 points from 16 matches. Igonen’s side return to action next Sunday when they host IFK Göteborg.
Meanwhile, fellow Estonian Erko Tougjas remained an unused substitute for the second consecutive league match as Halmstads BK suffered a 0-2 home defeat to GAIS.
The loss extended Halmstad’s winless run to seven matches, leaving the club bottom of the Allsvenskan standings with just seven points from 16 games.
The 23-year-old defender has now missed the last three league matches, having been left out of the squad once before twice remaining on the bench. In his first season outside Estonia, Tougjas has made 13 league appearances. Halmstad will next travel to BK Häcken on Monday.
In Belgium, Gent opened the new Pro League season with a comfortable 2-0 home victory over KV Mechelen. Estonian international Maksim Paskotši came on at the start of the second half with Gent already holding a two-goal advantage, making his first league appearance of the new campaign.
Gent now switch their focus to Europe, where they host IFK Göteborg on Thursday in the second leg of their UEFA Conference League third qualifying round tie after securing a 1-0 first-leg victory in Sweden.
In the Czech First League, Vlasij Sinjavskij played the full match as Baník Ostrava suffered a second consecutive defeat, losing 2-1 away to Hradec Králové after being reduced to ten men.
The 29-year-old Estonian international has started all three league matches this season as Ostrava have collected one victory from their opening three fixtures. Their next match comes next Sunday at home against Artis Brno.
