Orji bags second brace of season as Pitea hold Linkopings

Ebere Orji continued with her fine scoring form as she netted twice but Linkopings were held to a 2-2 draw by Faith Micheal's Pitea in Wednesday's Swedish Damallsvenskan encounter.

The 33-year-old is settling in well in Linkoping since arriving from Umea in January and has scored three goals in three appearances for Olof Unogard's team this season.

The draw means the 2018 Swedish champions are now unbeaten in four matches, while Unogard's team failed to win for the first time four matches since the start of the 2020 season.

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Having gained a two-point lead at the top of the log, Linkopings built on their impressive run and nearly found the breakthrough through Uchenna Kanu in the 32nd minute.

On the brink of half-time, Frida Maanum set up Orji to break the deadlock and score her fourth goal of the season in the 45th minute.

However, Pitea found the leveller when Nina Jakobsson was played through by Cecilia Edlund four minutes into the second half.

In the 61st minute, Johanna Alm teed up the Nigerian striker to grab her brace of the match and restore the lead for the visitors.

Linkopings' hopes of snatching the three points were dashed when they conceded a penalty which Julia Karlernas converted two minutes from full-time to force both teams to share the spoils.

With her latest brace, Orji, who was in action for 70 minutes, has taken her tally to five goals in four games and still tops the scorer's chart, and compatriot Kanu was involved from start to finish.

For Pitea, Micheal was also in action for the duration on her fourth outing this season as her side extended their unbeaten run.

Despite the draw, Linkopings are still on the top of the Damallsvenskan log with 10 points from four matches, while Pitea are second with eight points from the same number of games this term.

Up next, Linkopings will play host to Ngozi Okobi and Halimatu Ayinde's Eskilstuna United on July 19, while Pitea will seek to maintain the fine run at Vittsjo on the same day.