Enoch Kofi Adu was sent off as Malmo FF beat GIF Sundsvall in the Allsvenskan in their league opener.

The Ghana midfielder lasted only half an hour before being shown the straight red card against the newly-promoted home side.

By that point, however, Malmo were leading their hosts by three goals to one, and despite going down to ten, held on to record a convincing victory.

They opened the scoring on six minutes through Jo Irige Benet, before the same player doubled their lead ten minutes later.

Former West Bromwich Albion man Markus Rosenberg made it 3-0 on 20 minutes, before Johan Eklund pulled one back from the penalty spot for Sundsvall after Adu—the last man—brought down an opponent.

The contest was over before the break, however, when former Bayern Munich man Oscar Lewicki made it 4-1 before half-time.

The convincing victory puts Malmo at the top of the Allsvenskan table after one match, while newly-promoted Sundsvall have endured a rude return to life at the top and find themselves in 16th place.

Adu’s side look a good bet for a 19th Swedish title, with Magnus Eikren and Anton Tinnerholm looking particularly impressive.

Speaking after the match, coach Age Hareide refused to condemn Adu for his explusion.

“In my view, Adu was mistakenly sent off,” he began, according to Malmo’s official website, “it destroyed some of the celebrations for the crowd, and ruined the game for us.

“However, we practiced our defence, something we haven’t always done before, which in a way was good training for us.”