Bang, bang, bang, and the Allsvenskan seventh-placed team left the first half in a pretty mixed state. It was a thrashing that was well-deserved.
Galatasaray's 3–0 could easily have been 5–0 or 6–0 – if not for Isak Pettersson's great play between the posts.
Unlucky Own Goal
Still, Elfsborg's goalkeeper had real bad luck. Abdülkerim Bardakci's header against the post hit Pettersson, and the ball – to 2–0 – sneaked in behind him.
Mauro Icardi's and Baris Yilmaz's goals framed Pettersson's own goal.
The superstars Dries Mertens and Victor Osimhen created chance after chance when Galatasaray played out a large part of their broad register.
Then, in the 53rd minute and completely against the flow of the match, Niclas Hult reduced the score after being served an open goal by Simon Hedlund. Goals change matches – and suddenly Elfsborg took control in a completely different way than before.
Shortly after, Baris Yilmaz hit the ball away with his hand. After a long and thorough VAR check, referee Matej Jug pointed to the penalty spot.
Ice-Cold Baidoo
Michael Baidoo did as against Roma – placed the 2–3 reduction ice-cold.
Elfsborg went for an equalizer, but despite several fine attacks, they couldn't get the chances that could have given an extremely unexpected point.
Instead, Yunus Akgün offered a brilliant dribbling number in the penalty area and dunked in 4–2 with seven minutes left of regular time.
Johan Larsson's reduction in stoppage time gave new contact and new hope, but Elfsborg didn't get any closer in the thrilling and entertaining match.
We wanted to try to win the second half and not piss it away. It was out and try to win the second and see where it leads. We stand up, win that (3–1) and show that we stand up against this kind of opposition, says Larsson to Disney+.
After three played matches in the Europa League, Elfsborg stands on three points thanks to the 1–0 upset at home against Roma. Elfsborg lost away to AZ Alkmaar with 2–3 in the opening match.
Braga awaits in Borås on November 7.
