Nahir Besara came into Wednesday with five goals and four assists in the Allsvenskan. Hat-trick against Malmö a few weeks ago. A 37-year-old playing the best football of his recent career.
GAIS held him quiet all night.
0-0. No goals. None. In a fixture that historically averages 2.85 goals per meeting.
The Gamla Ullevi crowd went home with nothing to show for ninety minutes. Hammarby leave Gothenburg with a point instead of three. Eight-point gap to GAIS stays the same. Title push continues but with one fewer win than Hammarby would have wanted.
GAIS Were Missing Half Their Defence
Five players absent. Andreas Hermansen. Robin Wendin Thomasson. Henry Sletsjøe. Kevin Holmén. Gustav Lundgren. All injured. All unavailable for a home game against second place.
Nobody would have predicted GAIS to hold Hammarby goalless at Gamla Ullevi with that injury list. They did it anyway. Three home games unbeaten before Wednesday. Four now.
Whatever the coaching staff put together to cover those absences worked. You do not always need your first-choice eleven to grind a result. Wednesday proved it.
Hammarby Were Coming Off a 4-1 Win
Beat Malmö 4-1 last time out. The attack looked sharp. Besara with that hat-trick. Going to a club with five injured defenders.
And 0-0.
Sourou Koné was absent for Hammarby through injury. His presence would have given the attack a different dimension. Besara without Koné beside him is a different unit. Still. Hammarby had the quality to win this. They did not.
Karlsson will look at the tape Thursday and find chances. He always does. Hammarby have kept only two clean sheets in their last eight. The attack scores. The defence gives things up. Wednesday the attack gave nothing and the defence held. Both simultaneously.
The Head-to-Head
In 20 meetings, GAIS have won seven. Hammarby six. Seven draws.
Remarkably even for clubs in completely different parts of the table right now. GAIS ninth. Hammarby second. The fixture is tight regardless. It just is.
Wednesday was another draw. Last meeting also ended goalless. GAIS have won the last two meetings in this fixture. With five defenders missing. The Gamla Ullevi crowd did not expect that when the team news arrived.
Where the Table Stands
Hammarby second on eighteen points. Does not cost them top spot — Sirius still lead. But you do not win leagues by dropping points against ninth-placed clubs when your attack has been scoring four against Malmö.
One point is not three.
GAIS ninth on ten points. For a side missing five defenders, four unbeaten home games is genuinely impressive. When the injured players return this squad improves. Right now they are doing enough.
For more Allsvenskan coverage visit fawanews.org.uk. Full table and fixtures at the official Allsvenskan website.
GAIS 0-0 Hammarby IF Allsvenskan Round 9 | Wednesday, 20 May 2026 | Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg
GAIS absent: Hermansen, Wendin Thomasson, Sletsjøe, Holmén, Lundgren (all injury) Hammarby absent: Sourou Koné (injury) Key: Nahir Besara (HAM) — 5 goals 4 assists in 2026 Allsvenskan
H2H (20 meetings): GAIS 7W 7D | Hammarby 6W | Avg 2.85 goals per game Last meeting: GAIS 0-0 Hammarby
HT: 0-0 | FT: 0-0 Table: Sirius 1st | Hammarby 2nd (18 pts) | GAIS 9th (10 pts)
