Djurgårdens Secure 1-0 Win Over The New Saints to Boost UEFA Conference League Hopes

Djurgårdens secured a solid 1-0 triumph over The New Saints to claim their maiden win against Welsh opposition, as the Swedish team improved their UEFA Conference League progression chances with a second consecutive victory.

It had been nearly three weeks since Djurgårdens wrapped up their local season, but despite a shortage of competitive matches, the Swedes displayed minimal signs of sluggishness, quickly establishing dominance against their Welsh rivals. For all their control of possession though, the visitors created little danger for the Saints’ net during most of the half. Backed by a loud traveling support, Tokmac Nguen appeared to be the away side’s biggest menace, twice challenging goalkeeper Connor Roberts. With Saints offering limited attacking ambition in response, Djurgårdens made a deserved breakthrough late in the half when Adam Ståhl left his defender trailing with a sharp turn that enabled forward Tobias Gulliksen to slip into the box and finish calmly.

Playing in their inaugural European group stage, The New Saints had heavily relied on their ability to frustrate opponents in earlier matches, but the Djurgårdens backline barely faced pressure as the Swedes cruised through the second half unbothered, albeit with a narrow single-goal advantage. Daniel Stensson launched a precise free-kick harmlessly above the Saints crossbar as Djurgårdens failed to double their lead, which would’ve effectively sealed the result.

Only in the closing 10 minutes did Craig Harrison’s squad demonstrate genuine offensive ambition as they gambled on snatching an unlikely draw from a contest that, in reality, should’ve been far out of reach for the Welsh titleholders. Djurgårdens consequently added three more points to elevate their total to seven from a potential 12 to strengthen their hopes of advancing, while Saints have now suffered six defeats in seven clashes against Swedish teams, leaving them with work to do in their pursuit of knockout stage qualification.