Omalla makes sour debut in Sweden as ten-man Linkoping City fall

Benson Omala came on off the bench in the 46th minute as his new club FC Linkoping City went down 3-1 away to Qviding FC in a league match played on Sunday afternoon.

Omala who left for Sweden on Thursday trained with his new club on Saturday and was named among the subs on Sunday afternoon. He came on for Niro Gowran after the break.

Bernhardtz Noa gave the hosts the lead at the half-hour mark. Linkoping responded three minutes later through Sierra Leone international Christian Moses. The two teams left for the interval with the scores level.

Three minutes into the second half, the hosts won a penalty and Daniel Tidstrand stepped forward to beat the Linkoping keeper for a 2-1 lead. The visitors' hopes of coming back were diminished in the 66th minute when Tornblad Linus scored Qviding’s third.

Four minutes later, things went from bad to worse for Linkoping City FC when Darko Torbica was given his marching orders for a second bookable offense. Linkoping remains bottom in the table after losing their opening six matches.

Omalla joined the Swedish club on a 6-month loan deal from Gor Mahia, the deal will until December 2021. Should he impress, the two clubs will negotiate for a transfer fee that will see him move to Sweden permanently.

In an earlier interview with Mozzart Sport, the forward said he is looking forward to playing in Sweden for more than one season.

I hope to be in Sweden for at least a season and a half. This will help me settle adapt to life abroad and focus on achieving the team’s goals as well as that of self,” he said.

Omalla joined Gor Mahia in September 2020 from Western Stima. He signed a five-year contract with the league champions.