VIKING-TROMSØ 2–1
Last year’s bronze medal has been replaced by a relegation match in 2024. Against Viking, there was a loss well into overtime after a late penalty kick.
Tromsø thus stands with zero points after five games this season.
Tromsø looked to break the losing streak and take the first elite series point of the year, but a penalty in overtime gave the Vikings a 2-1 victory.
Anders Jenssen clashed with Viking substitute Sander Svendsen in the box two minutes into overtime. Svendsen managed to nod the ball before he was hit, and referee Rohit Saggi resolutely pointed to the penalty kick.
Zlatko Tripic kept his cool and tapped the penalty into the roof of the net. Then the game was almost six minutes into overtime. Because Svendsen received treatment, many minutes passed between the offense and the shot.
Tripic thinks the victory was fully deserved, but also came with a jab at Tromsø after the match. The Viking captain stirred up the opponent towards the end of the match.
– I tend to get a lot of players annoyed with me. So that’s nice, he says to TV 2 and continues:
– They should rather focus on playing their game. They are a good team and we saw that last year. But today I think they focused on many other places. It’s also a bit annoying when the coaching staff gets madly fired up. They speak very, very badly. They have to be a little careful and think about themselves, or things can go very wrong up there.
Tripic also roused his opponent towards the end of the match.
– I tend to get a lot of players annoyed with me. So that’s nice
Last year’s bronze winner Tromsø has had a rotten start to the season. Four straight series losses and a cup exit against Vålerenga was the foretaste before Sunday’s away game against a Viking team hungry for points. On Sunday, there was another loss.
Lars-Jørgen Salvesen nodded in a well-deserved lead for Viking in the 52nd minute, but Tromsø captain Ruben Yttergård Jenssen equalized straight after.
Both teams had chances that could have decided the match, but Viking won the chance statistics superiorly and won all in all deservedly.
Tromsø is last in the table with zero points.