Nordic Football News

13 games in and there are three teams in particular who look like they could be heading for doom and despair (or the Adeccoliga, as some call it), but amidst the casual randomness of the Tippeliga few things are ever certain and on matchday 14 all three of those teams picked up points..

Leading the line of the troubled threesome is Lyn, who even by their standards face a remarkably bleak set of circumstances. Financially buggered beyond description and facing the prospect of being kicked out of their ground (due to their inability to pay rent), the best case scenario for Lyn this fall seems to be to not go bankrupt. To achieve this they have to sell players, which is impractical as they’re also bottom of the league and if anything look like a team that needs major reinforcements. Their game against Odd seems sadly symptomatic of Lyn’s recent history: They went ahead through a moment of quality from Diego Guastavino, but after that they spent the rest of the game on the back foot and in the end a desperately unlucky own-goal in injury time deprived them of a much needed win. Not that Odd weren’t worth a point, on balance they probably deserved all three, but you have to feel sorry for Lyn who were so close to getting a win that would have given the whole club a bit of a lift. Still, a point against the team sitting third in the table is a handy result when you’re bottom of the pile, even if the way it happened left their players and fans feeling they could have had two more.

After three straight 4-0 defeats in the league Bodø/Glimt needed to change something, anything, and manager Kåre Ingebrigtsen’s answer was to give geriatric winger Jan Derek Sørensen a rest and throw on untested 19 year old Daniel Stensland in his place. Fortune occasionally favors the bold, and in this case the move paid off as Stensland’s pace caused considerable havoc down Glimt’s right flank. Having said that, it was visiting Lillestrøm who went ahead through Bjørn Helge Riise and they should have had a penalty before that, so it could easily have been another very bad day for Bodø. As it happened, young Stensland’s equalizer in the 41th minute and and some frantic defending in the second half meant Glimt brought their run of defeats to an end. A 1-1 draw at home against Lillestrøm is possibly not the most memorable of results, but after a thoroughly miserable spell for the club it could represent some kind of turning point for the northerners. 

The third member of this troubled trinity is of course Ronny Deila’s plucky darlings Strømsgodset, who like the others have to contend with issues like financial woes, a small and in some aspects limited squad, and of course a pesky lack of points. Taking all that into account, their 2-1 win over Tromsø in front of their own fans will have done wonders for the overall spirit in the Godset-camp. The three points comes in handy as well, as it lifts them out of the relegation-zone for at least a couple of days.

Meanwhile, in the more fashionable end of the table Rosenborg avoided a potential banana skin away to Aalesund with alarming ease. The league leaders were more or less gifted two early goals through unforgivably sloppy defending and never really looked back from there. Not a lot of teams go to Color Line Stadion and return home with a 3-0 win, and the apparent ease with which Rosenborg did so should worry their title rivals, if indeed there are any.

On that subject, a sub-par Molde had few problems beating an even worse Fredrikstad 2-0 at the picturesque Aker Stadion. Their cause was aided considerably by Fredrikstad having two men sent off, first defender Vidar Martinsen saved a shot on the line with his hand and then the excessively feisty Ardian Gashi cleverly picked up two yellow cards for dissent. 

Stabæk‘s resurgence continued at Telenor Arena, having agreed on a 9% wage cut (well haggled there) the Stabæk-players celebrated by giving poor Start a 5-0 thrashing. Some of Start’s problems here could be attributed to the absence of their two first choice centerbacks, but this hardly explains the ease with which the hosts time and time again cut through Start’s midfield as if it wasn’t there. Something to think about for Start-manager Knut Tørum, certainly. 

Things are also really looking up for Mad Martin’s Vålerenga after they overcame Sandefjord 2-0, having actually played really rather well. Not only has Mad Martin avoided the sack by the narrowest of margins, he actually seems to be turning the good ship Vålerenga around, slowly but surely. Impressive stuff.

Last and most definitely least, Viking drew 1-1 with Brann in an irretrievably terrible game that doesn’t deserve further mention.

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