In another weekend full of attacking intent in Toppserien, both Arna-Bjørnar and Klepp came out on top after eight-goal matches against Stabæk and Grand as TØ found a late equaliser against Sandviken. Elsewhere both Røa and LSK claimed Oslo-derby honours with 2-1 respective wins over Vålerenga and Lyn as Avaldsnes hosted a stalemate with Kolbotn.
Arna-Bjørnar 6-2 Stabæk
With what was to kick off a bumper weekend of goals, Vilde Bøe Risa’s second minute header gave the hosts the lead over an ailing Stabæk side. The advantage stretched 13 minutes later by an inform Maria Dybwad Brochmann, the midfielder’s header the first of three she’d be scoring throughout the match. Carlotta Fennefoss’s strike at a corner seven minutes later gave the visitors a route back into the match, although it wasn’t long before Ingrid Hjelmseth was picking the ball out of her net again.
With the visiting defence in array, Bøe Risa claimed her second of the afternoon with a deft finish to the bottom corner before Amalie Eikeland added a fourth for AB with a well-taken chip late in the first half. The hosts refused to ease off the pressure in the second half and Brochmann struck twice in a six-minute period, with two well taken headers. With no way back, De Blaa finished the match on a high as Andrea Wilmann got the better of Mackenzie Arnold to sweep home a conciliarity second.
Røa 2-1 Vålerenga
Scoring in her third successive match, Ina Skaug got the ball rolling for the hosts six minutes in with an stunningly acute chip that somehow dropped under the bar after arcing high over Guro Pettersen. Having found some better form over the second half of the season, the visitors pulled level late in the first half when Isabell Herlovsen’s thumping header arrowed into the bottom right corner.
Taking her tally to 11 goals for the season, Svava Rós Guðmundsdóttir nudged the Dynamite Girls back into the lead, three minutes into the second half with a close-range finish after Pettersen had let go of her initial effort. The win sees the victors leap-frog Vålerenga into sixth, the pair tied for points with four matches of the season left.
Avaldsnes 0-0 Kolbotn
Winless in their seven previous matches, Avaldsnes returned to league action following a midweek visit from European champions, Lyon. Conditions weren’t perfect for either side with the rain pouring down in Rogaland and it was the hosts who just about had the better of it on Sunday afternoon. With the pitch slick and bobbly, neither side could find enough of an edge and were forced to settle for a draw, marking Avaldsnes’s fifth and Kolbotn’s fourth clean sheets of the season.
Grand Bodø 3-5 Klepp
Keeping distance between themselves and the chasing teams, Klepp twice came from behind to leave Bodø with all three points after a goal-filled afternoon. On the backfoot after Vilde Fjelldal’s 13 minute low effort, Zaneta Wyne pulled the visitors level with a thumping shot from Hege Hansen’s cross.
Tied at the break, the second half saw the floodgates open as first, Tameka Butt pounced on a poor clearance to volley the ball home before Fjelldal grabbed an equaliser seconds later with a neat finish. The hosts able to go ahead five minutes later, Dajana Spasojević’s first goal for the club a cleanly struck direct free kick to the top left corner.
Wrong-footed by a timely deflection, Siiri Välimaa was left to gather the ball from the back of her net once again this season as Wyne wheeled away in celebration, the Tractor Girls back on terms. After a frantic nine minutes that had seen four goals, the match rather calmed down, Hansen’s goal 15 minutes from time giving the visitors the lead for the second time in the match, cleanly volleying Wyne’s cross home. The knock-out blow landed by Hansen in the last minute of regulation time, her short arcing over Välimaa, who’d already gone low, more than enough to seal all three points.
Trondheims-Ørn 3-3 Sandviken
A thumping header from 16-year-old Emilie Bragstad gave the hosts the lead six minutes in before Julie Adserø added a fast second with a shot too powerful for Nora Gjøen to hold onto. With the best part of 80 minutes to get back into the game, with half an eye on a Champions League berth, Sandviken failed to get the better of Kristine Nøstmo in the first half.
Reduced to ten, early in the second half when Gjøen was shown a straight red, the visitors should have sagged but unexpectedly found their way back into the match. After clipping the top of the bar, strike-partners Kennya Cordner and Ajara Nchout combined perfectly to have the net rippling. A perfect ball forward gave Nchout her second of the match, the Cameroonian chipping the ball over Nøstmo with her first touch, in full-flight, Nchout’s hat trick completed in the 90 minute for what should have been the match winner. Just like their opposition, TØ refused to let their heads drop and dug out an unexpected equaliser moments later when Sara Fornes picked out the bottom right corner.
LSK 2-1 Lyn
A goal to the good 15 minutes in thanks to an own goal from the hosts, Glenn Kleven’s youthful team held on well into the second half, keeping the champions at bay. The visitor’s industrious work undone just after the hour when LSK struck twice in the space of three minutes to keep their 100% record intact. Having given up her clean sheet to an Emilie Haavi effort, Oda Bogstad was forced to pluck the ball from the back of her net for a second time when she was bested by Ingrid Kvernvolden moments later.
