GÖTEBORG, SWEDEN - Charlie Davies went the full 90 in a losing cause for Hammarby in Göteborg as they were defeated 2-0 by GAIS for their first loss of the season.

Davies did not get on the scoresheet, but he was one of the few HIF sparks and should have at least had a pair of assists to show for his attacking verve.

The USMNT forward was given his third consecutive start of the season, although his forward partner for Thursday was Freddy Söderberg, who received his first Allsvenskan start as star forward Paulinho Guará was relegated to the bench despite scoring on Monday against Sundsvall.

Despite a tight match schedule, Hammarby coach Tony Gustavsson admitted that the change was not to keep players fresh. "We do not have a rotation plan with Hammarby," Gustavsson said postgame. "We plan our team to get the maximum points, and base our selection on the form of our players."

GAIS nearly jumped off to a great start after two minutes when a long throw was poorly cleared and gifted a chance to Johann Gudmundsson, but his shot was cleared after appearing to have Shaaban beat at the far post.

In the ninth minute GAIS winger Levon Pachajyan broke free down the right of the penalty area after leaving Hammarby defender Suleyman Sleyman for dead, but the Armenia international's final pass let him down with his teammates waiting in the box.

Hammarby's defense was struggling to keep up with GAIS's speed on the flanks and the hosts deservingly took the lead in the 17th minute after back-to-back corners. Hammarby's Sweden international Rami Shaaban came out to punch away Kenneth Gustavsson's in-swinging corner, but could only get a touch and the ball fell at the far post for Wanderson do Carmo, who had an easy finish with the vacated goal.

"Christian Traoré and Rami did not communicate on the play, and need to cooperate better," said Gustavsson postgame. "It was also a mental lapse on our side as one of our players was supposed to mark the far post."

Davies also spoke about the missed coverage. "We can't give up set piece goals like that if we want to win the title this year," he told American Soccer Daily. "I think (Sebastian) Castro was supposed to be marking the near post and left his position."

Hammarby had to wait until the 22nd minute for their first real chance of the game. Center midfielder Petter Andersson found Söderberg with a great curling cross-field pass, but both the tall striker's touch and footing let him down when he should have had a clear shot on goal and GAIS were able to clear the danger.

The hosts nearly extended their lead in the 28th minute when the impressive Prince Ikpe Ekong slipped a nice pass with the outside of his boot to Pachajyan, but Shaaban was stood tall to make a nice kick save, and the deflection somehow avoided the onrushing GAIS players.

Hammarby looked sluggish and off the pace without their fans to cheer them on, but Davies sparked them to life with two moments of individual skill. In the 33rd minute, Davies took down a long pass from the back and turned his marker inside out before cutting the ball back to Haris Laitinen, who hit a weak shot that was blocked away.

Shortly afterwards the USMNT forward turned on his jets to break free down the left flank and cross to a free Söderberg, but with the goal gaping in front of him, the target forward mistimed his shot and found nothing but air to the dismay of Davies and his teammates.

Bajen looked rejuvenated as the first half came to a close, and both Söderberg and Castro-Tello had half-chances to tie the match, but GAIS keeper Dime Jankulovski was able to save both efforts.

In the 52nd minute, Davies was at the center of a scuffle when a Hammarby header was barely kept out by Jankulovski and the two players scrambled for the loose ball before the referee blew for a suspect foul against the American.

After the whistle, Jankulovski appeared to strike Davies, and players from both sides rushed in as a shoving match broke out that only resulted in a card for Hammarby's Castro-Tello. Davies was roughed up on the play, gaining a cut on his nose.

"He basically tried to cleat me, I think," Davies told American Soccer Daily. "It was a scramble and it seemed like he kicked me."

Gustavsson made two quick changes shortly thereafter to bring some energy to Bajen. Laitinen was the first to leave as he made way for Erkan Zengin, and Söderberg exited for Paulinho Guará.

Despite Söderberg's miss, Davies was happy with the partnership. "It went okay tonight with Freddy," he told ASD. "He is new and he made his first start. But he really brought a lot of energy tonight. It was just a bit unfortunate we couldn't capitalize more."

While Hammarby pressed forward for an equalizer, GAIS appeared content to sit back and counter. Do Carmo took advantage of a static Bajen defense on one such break in the 65th minute to burst past a flat-footed Sleyman to cross into the box.

Shaaban foiled the Brazilian attacker on a more dangerous chance only a minute later when more poor defense by Bajen let Carmo alone on goal, though his toe-poke was kept out with a great reaction save.

Bajen had a great chance to equalize in the 73rd minute when Petter Andersson made another great run down the middle of the pitch and found Castro-Tello after Davies played a clever dummy, but the winger's shot went well wide, much to the frustration of teammates who were hoping for a pass.

Davies had a good chance of getting an equalizer in the 77th minute when he made a nicely timed penetrating run to get onto a long ball over the GAIS defense from Louay Chanko. Unfortunately, Davies' left-footed finish was deflected out by Jankulovski for a corner.

"I made a good run and Lolo found me with a good pass," Davies told American Soccer Daily. "Unfortunately the pass ended up a bit to the left. I saw the goalie backpedaling so I tried to put low and to the corner, but I didn't get it where I wanted it."

GAIS made Hammarby pay for their ineffectiveness and killed off the game in the 88th minute from another corner kick. Substitute Björn Andersson rose highest in the box with Shaaban screened and flicked the header into the goal to seal the win.

Bajen went close to getting a consolation goal in extra time when Davies fought hard to win a ball back at the top of the box before slipping a through pass to Andersson, who clipped his shot just past the far post, perfectly summing up the day for Bajen.

While unhappy with the defeat, Davies was happy with his play. "For me, today I did a great job creating opportunities for my teammates," he told ASD. "It was tough getting behind the defense, so I had to drop back to get the ball and create."

On Monday, Hammarby host hated rivals AIK in what promises to be a heated battle. "We are really looking forward to the game," Davies said. "The AIK game is the biggest game of the year. The history, the crowd, it just doesn't get any better than that."

ASD's Three Stars
#1 Levon Pachajyan
#2 Prince Ikpe Ekong
#3 Petter Andersson

Scoring
GAIS - Wanderson do Campo 1 17'
GAIS - Björn Andersson 2 (Levon Pachajyan) 88'

Line-ups
GAIS - Dime Jankulovski; Jonas Lundén, Andreas Tobiasson, Bobbie Friberg da Cruz, Kenneth Gustafsson, Levon Pachajyan, Fredrik Lundgren, Prince Ikpe Ekong, Wanderson do Carmo (Björn Andersson 85'), Johann Gudmundsson (Tommy Lycén 59'), Daniel Morais Reis

HIF - Rami Shaaban; David Johansson, Suleyman Sleyman, Christian Traoré, Claudio Dadomo, Sebastian Castro-Tello (Mikkel Jensen 85'), Louay Chanko, Petter Andersson, Haris Laitinen (Erkan Zengin 54'), Charlie Davies, Freddy Söderberg (Paulinho Guará 57')