Results from the 2nd round

Stabæk - Vålerenga 1-1
Not only did Kristoffer Hæstad score, he also blocked a shot on the goal line.
Stabæk's goal came in the 50th minute, when Pontus Farnerud showed great vision and class and passed perfecly to Johan Andersson, who had no problems in placing the ball behind Lars Hirschfeldt.


Kongsvinger - Odd 1-2


Hønefoss - Aalesund 0-2
Demar Philips scored two, and Aalesund are on top of the league with 6 points.


Haugesund - Strømsgodset 2-2


Lillestrøm - Tromsø 2-0
Tromsø hardly created anyhing, while LSK only needed 13 minutes to score two. Arild Sundgot scored the first on a pass from Anthony Ujah, before Ujah minutes later scored on a pass from Sundgot.

Sandefjord - Molde 3-1:
Molde had the lead at half time, but Sandefjord surprised after the break, and scored three in 17 minutes. Last year's silver winners have now lost their two first matches in the season.

Viking - Brann 4-0
Embarrasing result for Brann in this Vestland-derby, however, Viking scored a couple of beautiful goals, Ingelsten took it down on his chest before placing it behind Opdal, Ødegård and Nisja both scored on volley and the last goal came when Andreas a pass from Ulland Andersen(who had a great match as replacement for Sokolowski) found Birkir Bjarnason's head, who could score the last goal of the match.


Rosenborg - Start 3-3
A brillant pass from Steffen Iversen led to a penalty when Rade Prica was tackled by Bård Borgersen, and Rosenborg had the lead 1-0, but Roseborg's defensive line was unable to communicate, and Start could fool the offside trap again and again. Christer Kleiven did also score a candidate for goal of the year, with a howler from 20 meters. However, Steffen Iversen created great chances in attack, and Trond Olsen could score two equalizers for Rosenborg, and the very exciting match ended 3-3.


Watch the best goals of the round here.

Results from the 1st round

Brann 0 - 0 Haugesund
Haugesund keeper Per Morten Kristiansen made it difficult for Brann. Haugesund had a couple of shots as well, but they either went outside of post, or straight on the goal keeper.



Odd Grenland 2 - 3 Stabæk
Veigar Pall Gunnarson had to assists in his comeback, former Odd player Espen Hoff scored the winning goal for Stabæk in the 90th minute.



Strømsgodset 2 - 0 Kongsvinger
Marcus Pedersen and Fredrik Nordkvelle scored.



Tromsø 2 - 0 Hønefoss
Debutant Thomas Drage (18yrs) assisted Sigurd Rushfeldt's (37yrs) first goal for the season. Tommy Knarvik scored the other goal.



Aalesund 3 - 0 Lillestrøm
Daniel Arnefjord, Tor Hogne Aarøy and Diego Silva scored, but Aalesund's keeper Lindegård was the main difference between the teams.



Start 2 - 0 Sandefjord
Young Christer Kleiven did not only scored, but had a great game from the midfield. Rune Hansen scored the season's first own goal, a beautiful lob over Sandefjord's keeper.



Molde 1 - 2 Rosenborg
Three Swedish goal scorers (Runström, Prica and Lustig) in this snowballfight. Molde scored first, but Rosenborg improved a lot in the second half, and did what they needed to bring 3 points home to Trondheim.



Vålerenga 2 - 0 Viking
Two long range shots from Moa Abdoulaue, one with his left and one with his right foot. Not the best debut for Viking keeper Jarstein

League Prediction: 1st place

Rosenborg. (Last year: 1st in Tippeligaen)
+ The strongest squad, quality in all parts of the team.
+ The best defence in the league, including two of the best backs(Lustig and Dorsin), the three best central defenders(Demidov, Lago and Stadsgaard) and the very promising Simen Wangberg
+ Good players on the bench including a couple of young talents who have impressed during the pre season, (Sellin, Åsen, Bakenga, Wangsberg and Henriksen)
+ Has bought three good players: Moldskred(attack), Winsnes(Midfield) and Örlund(GK).

- Manager Erik Hamren will leave in August, and Rosenborg has still not found a replacement. Romour has it they are going to wait until Stabæk's manager is a free agent, but how will a temporary manager affect the players?
- There is also a change that some key players will leave during the winter. Skjelbred, Demidov and Annan are wanted by several clubs.

Player to watch:
Gjermund Åsen(18yrs) has impressed both as a winger and central midfield in the pre season games, and could be the next great Rosenborg player.

League Prediction: 2nd place

Molde (Last year: 2nd in the league and the cup)
+ Jonevret is another great swedish manager.
+ Pape Pate Diouf has been good during the winter, as he has stepped out of the shadow of Mame Biram Diouf.
+ Thioune was brilliant in 2009, will he follow up? He has also had some groin problems this winter...
+ Dahle, Strandhagen, Meidell, Stamnestrø and Mame Diouf's little brother Mbar are some of the interesting talents in the squad.
+ Holm and Hoseth are solid central midfields.

- Jose Mota is on loan to Suwon Samsung Bluewings and M Diouf was sold to Manchester United.
- Goalkeeper Dørum Lilleback is injured, but Molde has borrowed Man United reserves keeper Ben Amos.
- Lacks good back up for the central defenders (Steen and Forren), Forren is likely to move to a bigger club this summer.

Player to watch:
Djibi Fall(on loan) looks like he is going to be another great Senegalese, like the two Dioufs and Makhtar Thioune. However, Molde will have to adopt their game a bit, as Fall is not the same type of striker as Mame.

League Prediction: 3rd place

Stabæk: (Last year: 3rd in Tippeligaen)
+ Jan Jönsson is an excellent manager
+ Diogo da Costa Oliveira looks like a quality replacement for Daigo Kobayashi, and they have bought Veigar Pall Gunnarson back from Nancy. The "Gunnarson and Nannskog duo" was the main reason why Stabæk won the league in 2008. Are they going to be able to recreate the connection they had back then, or is Nannskog getting too old?
+ Some of the best central midfielders in the league with Hauger, Farnerud and Andersson.
+ Jon Knudsen is a good keeper. Stabæk is going to need him in shape as

- They have lost many defenders, and this is going to be Stabæk's achilles heel this year.

Player to watch:
Diogo has been praised up to the skies, will he be the next Alanzinho?

League Prediction: 4th place

Viking (Last year: 10th place in Tippeligaen)
+ Åge Hareide is known to get good results in short time(as a club manager that is). Viking have played well this winter, and Hareide has found a system that suits the squad well.
+ With Jarstein on board Viking probably has one of the three best keepers in the league, but he needs a strong coach, as Jarstein is a player who demands a lot, and can at times have problems with his temper.
+ Patrick Ingelsten is an expensive, but exciting buy, and they haven't lost any key players. Nevland arrives in August.
+ A strong midfield (Sokolowski, Fillo and Bjarnason)

- Not the best defence, but they have a couple of good players(like left back Bertelsen) who could be solid if Hareide gets them to cooperate better. Lack a right back though, have tried to buy one, but haven't succeeded in finding any, however the supertalent Landu Landu could be ready for his break through if he gets the chance to play there
- The attack is quite thin, and they really need Ingelsteen to succeed.

Player to watch:
Martin Fillo has had a good winter, and might finally show us why Viking paid 10 million NOK for the former Czech under-21 Captain.

League Prediction: 5th place

Vålerenga (Last year: 7th place in Tippeligaen)
+ Playing manager Martin Andresen has finally decided to focus on just managing the team from Oslo East.
+ Has bought Lars Hirschfeld (Goalkeeper) and Andreas Nordvik (Central Defender). Not great players, but Hirschfeld was good when he played for Rosenborg, and Nordvik is still young and learning.
+ Lots of routine in the defence, but they might lack a bit of pace and other attributes needed to support the attacks. Will probably have less free kicks against them, as Erik "Panser" Hagen has left for Hønefoss.
+ Fellah, Singh, Dawda Leigh og Fuenmayor are all very promising, and Vålerenga is probably the club with the best young talents.

- Has lots of players with potensial who are capable of being great, however, the question is whether Andresen will be able to make the most of this potensial.
- Vålerenga has lost many profiles, without replacing any of them, Perkins, Andresen, Storbæk, Fredheim Holm and Wæhler.

Player to watch:
"Moa" Abdellaoue has signed a new contract and will hopefully play like he did in 2008.