Week 3 of the OBOS Ligaen season went largely to plan with the big guns winning their games comfortably whilst the newly promoted sides struggled to adapt to their new surroundings. Bodo/Glimt were looking to assert themselves as potential champions whilst Start were looking to do the same in a frosty encounter with their former boss Mons Ivar Mjelde and his new Asane side.
(Photo: Digitalsports)
Bodo/Glimt 5 – 0 Elverum (Katchi, Olsen x2, Opseth, Mladenovic)
Elverum boss Tore Fossum
It would not be incorrect to suggest Bodo/Glimt had been underwhelming in their first two OBOS Ligaen games of the season, especially after all the hype generated by their big name Winter signings.
They did, however, really start to show their strengths in this demolition of Elverum. From the first whistle the team in yellow were clearly a league above the newly promoted side and a lovely Katchi goal, reminiscent of Thierry Henry, set the tone for the rest of the game.
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Jens-Petter Hauge and Trond Olsen lined up on the flanks for Glimt and were at their brilliant best the entire game. Hauge contributed a hat-trick of assists whilst Trond Olsen bagged two goals and was a constant thorn in the Elverum defence’s side.
Glimt had lacked a balance in their midfield trio previously but strangely enough the omission of Mathias Normann seemingly did the side a big favor as Jacobsen, Moberg & Saltnes all put in very good performances in the middle of the park.
For Elverum, it was another disappointing day. They would have hoped to challenge Glimt after a promising display against Tromsdalen last week but a lack of understanding in the back four meant they succumbed to the home sides’ pressure time and time again.
Frankly, Glimt were just the better side. It is hard to criticize Elverum too much when the home team was so blatantly on form but manager Tore Fossum would still have expected much more from his side.
[twitter]https://twitter.com/Glimt/status/854646109716852736[/twitter]
Sandnes Ulf 0 – 0 Fredrikstad
Ulrik Flo, photo by DigitalSports
Fredrikstad had shown in their first two OBOS Ligaen games that they were more than capable of matching the top teams in the league with their new more defensive style of play and so Sandnes knew they would have a tough time breaking the visitors down in this game.
Sandnes were mostly unchanged for the game but Fredrikstad were forced into bringing players such as Joona Veteli and Filip Westgaard into their starting lineup for the first time this season.
The game followed a path predicted by many pre-match. FFK soaked up the Sandnes pressure before mounting counter attacks of their own, but in truth the visitors never really looked like threatening during the game.
Sandnes had a handful of opportunities of their own but good defensive displays from new signings Edvard Skagestad and Mislav Leko meant the team in blue were restricted in their creativity in front of goal.
FFK lever sin klart beste omgang så langt denne sesongen. Taktisk godt gjennomført!
— Joacim Jonsson (@Joacim_Jonsson) April 17, 2017
The match ended 0-0 which was frankly a fair result on the balance of things, with both sides matching each other over the course of the 90 minutes. It was yet another impressive tactical display from Andrea Loberto’s men but Sandnes Ulf and manager Bengt Saeternes will be disappointed not to have broken down the visitors with their attacking talent.
Ranheim 2 – 1 Arendal (Karlsen, Gjertsen; Pepa)
Ranheim in action against Arendal (Digitalsports)
These two sides had already played in pre-season, with the result flipped in Arendal’s favor as the newly promoted side impressed in La Manga. This game however was a totally different kettle of fish with Ranheim going into the game undefeated in the league & Arendal looking for their first point of the season.
The main criticism of Arendal this season has been that they are seemingly not playing to their own strengths. Wilhelm Pepa, who scored 23 goals in 27 games last season, has been a spectator on the bench as 38 year old Petar Rnkovic usurped him as the teams’ main striker.
The decision has not gone down well with the support with fans suggesting that Pepa should be starting week in week out. Manager Knut Torum persisted with Rnkovic up front for this match against Ranheim much to many a fans’ dismay.
The contrast in performance between the La Manga friendly and this league game was startling. Previously, Arendal were a fluid attacking unit yet now looked lost for ideas in the final third with only new signing Adnan Mohammad offering any kind of creative outlet. Ranheim, however, looked dangerous every time they received the ball on the counter attack with Torgil Gjertsen and Mads Reginiussen both putting in exceptional attacking performances.
Ranheim went in at the break 1-0 up thanks to a Michael Karlsen goal, but truthfully, it could have been much more were it not for some good Anders Gundersen saves in the Arendal goal. Kris Lokberg and Matias Olsen both had to leave the field with nasty injuries after a heavy collision early on which marred the proceedings somewhat early on.
[twitter]https://twitter.com/KrisLokberg/status/854045357801648129[/twitter]
The second half continued along the same lines as the first with Ranheim dominating the game but failing to convert some key chances. A lovely Gjertsen finish after 70 minutes put the game to bed though, despite a late Arendal surge which saw Ylldren Ibrahimaj lift the ball perfectly into the newly introduced Pepa’s path and the 30 year old was never going to miss when one on one with Even Barli. Final score, 2-1 to Ranheim.
The result means that Arendal are now the only OBOS Ligaen side without a point in the league, whilst Ranheim sit top of the table 2 points clear of Bodo/Glimt in 2nd. It has been a surprising start to the season for both sides with Arendal under performing so far and Ranheim surprising everyone with three wins in three.
The Best of the Rest
IK Start easily saw of a poor Asane side 4-0
thanks to a Niels Vorthoren hat-trick and a Dennis Antwi tap in. Fredrik Heggland was sent off for Asane who never really threatened the Start goal at any point during the game. Start have been mightily impressive in these first 3 OBOS Ligaen games and see themselves sitting pretty in 3rd place, 2 points off leaders Ranheim.
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Ull/Kisa defeated Strommen 2-0
in their local derby thanks to late goals from new signing Emmanuel Troudart and hot prospect Kristoffer Odemarksbakken. In truth, the game itself was dire with neither side being able to string together too many passes in a row nor create clear cut attacking chances but Kisa just about deserved their win on the balance of play. They now sit in 5th position with an impressive 7 points from their 3 games whilst Strommen are struggling in 12th having picked up just 1 point and one goal so far.
Konsgvinger could only manage a point against Tromsdalen
as Hans-Erik Eriksen’s tough start to the season continued with a 2-2 draw. Things were looking good for KIL as Kirill Suslov’s free kick after two minutes was scored via a heavy deflection. Things turned sour later in the first half though as Tromsdalen scored twice in a 5 minute spell to send them 2-1 up. Martin Ellingsen’s cheeky free kick on the stroke of half time however saw KIL go in level at the break. The second half was largely uneventful and both sides will probably have been happy to take a point from the game.
Floro and Levanger played out a goalless draw in the final game of our roundup.
Frankly, I am finding it tough to write anything down for this game as it was simply too uneventful. Both sides created a few half chances but really a 0-0 draw was probably a fair result. It means Floro are still undefeated in the OBOS Ligaen with 3 draws in 3 games whilst Levanger are struggling on just 2 points.
[twitter]https://twitter.com/AGNaustdal/status/854002309822599172[/twitter]
(18.04.17) Mjondalen 3 – 0 Jerv (Silfwer, Pellegrino x2)
Amahl Pellegrino celebrates his second against FK Jerv in Mjondalen’s 3-0 win (Digitalsports)
Mjondalen easily overturned a poor Jerv side in their 3-0 win on Tuesday.
New Mjondalen captain Pontus Silfwer was at his best again and his performance could not have started better as he grabbed an early goal to send Mjondalen into the lead. Two clinical Pellegrino finishes later on meant Mjondalen remained undefeated in the 2017 OBOS Ligaen and soared up into 4th place in the table.
Jerv looked like a side bereft of ideas and confidence. Their lack of an out and out goalscorer in the side cost them dearly as good chances were spurned in the second half.
New signing David Akintola looked good once again but it was not enough to prevent Jerv’s second loss of the season, sending them down into 13th place with just 1 point from their first 3 games.
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Ben Wells
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