Norwegian Eliteserien, Sunday 28th July
My second game in Norway this weekend saw me at my families most local Eliteserien side in the shape of Viking, who came from Stavanger of course, and they were up against Molde in what was billed as the game of the weekend in Norway, hence it's late slot on the Sunday evening, it was 4th against 3rd with the winners taking second spot behind leaders Bodo/Glimt.
Neither wanted to drop points as they could not give Bodo/Glimt or even Brann, who occupied second spot at kick off, anymore breathing space, Viking & Molde were level on points and only separated by goal difference, and trailed second placed Brann by two points and leaders Bodo by nine points, so a win for either was certainly on the agenda.
Both sides form coming into this one was similar, both had been on decent unbeaten runs over last four or five games before they came to a shuddering halt last weekend, Viking losing against one of their local rivals in the shape of Haugesund whilst Molde were beaten at home by surprise package of the season so far in the shape of KFUM Oslo. although Molde did bounce back in midweek to win against Danish side Silkeborg in midweek.
And when these two played each other at the start of June it was a very entertaining contest at the Aker Stadion up in Molde, although the hosts on that occasion managed to net all four goals in that contest, netting two own goals in the process to help Viking claim a 2-2 draw, so I was certainly hoping for a similar contest here at the SR Bank Arena, or otherwise known as the Viking Stadion.
A crowd of 10,622, which included around 50-100 from Molde, certainly created a decent atmosphere inside what is a superb stadium, am always impressed when I go there, and I had managed to bag myself a decent seat as well in a prime location just in front of the watching media, and at around £27 too it was very good value as well.
The Viking Hordene behind the goal to my right were vocal as always, and were throughout the entire contest, could their side give them the win that they wanted to much and send out a warning to their other rivals that they certainly meant business in this years title race and also the European spots up for grabs in those top four places.
Well, the first half of the contest they were thankful for their keeper Arild Ostbo who had to make four decent stops to keep the visitors out, the first one denied Kristoffer Haugen from the angle after he had produced a chance for himself down the left, and then Eirik Hestad was played in but saw Ostbo thwart him with another smart stop.
The third chance saw a clever corner routine from Molde as Hestad found Markus Kaasa is acres of room inside the box and his first time strike through a crowd of bodies was beaten away by Ostbo, and the fourth save came when a ball into the box by Hestad was half dealt with by the Viking back line but then for some reason they headed the ball right into the path of Emil Breivik at the back post, but Ostbo was again on hand to block the attempt at goal.
Viking had snippets of openings but barely tested Albert Posiadala in the Molde goal, the closest they came was a free kick from skipper Zlatko Tripic, but his effort flew wide of the target, it meant that the contest remained goalless at the break but with Molde certainly having the better of the chances and play for sure.
However, the start of the second half saw what proved to be the decisive moment of the contest as with it barely a minute old Viking caught their opponents cold as good play down the left saw a ball into the box before it was helped on into the path of Sondre Bjorshol who thumped a lovely first time effort beyond Posidala and handed Viking the lead in this one, what a start it was for them in the second period.
Viking now had the bit between their teeth and sensed that for the first time in the match they could grab control and maybe add a second goal to really give themselves some breathing room, they nearly found it too as again good play down the left saw the impressive Harald Tangen slipped in but his powerful effort from the angle was well beaten away by Posidala.
However, once the match past the 60-65 minute mark, Molde began to see more of the ball once again as Viking started to think about holding onto what they had perhaps, the visitors did suffer a blow when Kristoffer Haugen had to be replaced by Mathias Fjortoft-Lovik after being injured in a challenge, but the substitute caused Viking no end of problems down the left hand side as it turned out and was a real threat.
Molde continued to probe and try and find a route to goal, and in the 74th minute they thought they had finally found a way past Ostbo and the hosts back line when a ball in from Fjortoft-Lovik saw a number of players, including keeper Ostbo, challenge for the ball, and after what appeared to be a foul on Ostbo and see the ball perhaps headed from his grasp too, the loose ball was turned home by another substitute Aaron Olanare , and with no whistle forthcoming, the goal stood, much to the dismay of the home players and crowd.
But, VAR then got involved and the goal was checked for offside as it turned out, and it was deemed that Olanare was just in an offside position when the ball reached him from that header out of Ostbo's grasp, so the goal was ruled out for offside, which got a very loud cheer from the home supporters, and you felt after this that Molde were never going to find a way through as it was just one of those days for them.
Viking almost made their lives easier by so nearly adding a wonderful second goal but saw a dipping effort from Hampus Finndell glance off the top of the bar, however Viking's nerves were being shredded as they had to defend for their lives to make sure they held onto the slender advantage they had, but they managed to see it out and claim a huge win, sinking to their knees at the end in triumph as they knew how important this win could be.
It just wasn't Molde's day in the end, they had enough chances to get something from this one but found MOTM Ostbo in supreme form, yes Viking rode their luck at times but they worked very hard for this win so you cannot begrudge them that, and they were the ones who managed to find a legitimate goal in the contest so ultimately that is what counts.
Viking climb into second spot and six points behind the leaders with a game in hand no less, and it was even sweeter as the side they climbed replaced in second was their bitter rivals Brann, who are from down the road in Bergen, Molde well this was a blow to their championship chances as they fell to fourth and remain nine points off the lead.
A good contest it was though played in front of a decent atmosphere, another enjoyable evening at Viking Stadion, or for sponsor's the SR Bank Arena, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Full time Viking 1 Molde 0
