Boakye scores, Molthalo sent off as Djurgarden bow to Uppsala

Portia Boakye was on target but her effort counted for nothing as Linda Molthalo was sent off to see Djurgarden bow to a 3-2 defeat against Uppsala in Saturday's Damallsvenskan opening game.

Banyana Banyana star was afforded her Damallsvenskan debut as a substitute in the tie, having bagged a brace in a 4-2 win over AIK on arriving from Chinese side Beijing Phoenix in January.

For Ghana 's Boakye, she started her third season campaign with Djurgarden in style since arriving from Ostersunds in 2018 before she grabbed her first goal for the club in the match.

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Tilde Lindwall scored the opening goal of the encounter at Studenternas IP as Pierre Fondin's team gained the lead after just eight minutes in the Damasvenskan season opener.

However, the hosts fought their way back with a strike from Sara Olai in the 25th minute but their celebration was shortlived as Boakye put the visitors back in front six minutes later.

Before half time, manager Fondin was forced to make an early change for his visiting team due to injured Fanny Lang, who made way for Molthalo in the 35th minute.

After the restart, Djurgarden held on to their slim lead but the hosts broke their defensive resilience as Cassandra Korhonen cancelled out Boakye's effort to level matters in the 81st minute.

Three minutes later, the South Africa international bagged her first booking for a poor challenge before she was given her marching orders after a second serious foul play inside two minutes.

Having gained a numerical advantage, the home side rallied late to overpower their visitors to claim the crucial winner through substitute Beata Olsson deep inside injury time.

The defeat leaves Djurdgarden in 10th position after a losing start to a new campaign, and they will hope for a winning home start in front of their fans against 12th placed Vaxjo on July 4.