– Incredibly frustrating! – The daily newspaper

VALLHALL (Dagsavisen): Several teams have tried, but no one has managed to stop Bærum’s top scorer Lasse Brandsdal this season. Nor did Gamle Oslo manage to tame Bransdal, who have a dizzying 12 goals in four league matches.

On Saturday, there were two goals for Bransdal, who have scored by far the most goals of anyone in the top four levels in Norway so far this year.

– He scores goals for fun, says Severin Sørlie, who himself scored one of Gamle Oslo’s goals, and sighs.

– He is a good striker. He is extremely good, a real goalscorer. But we kind of feel that it is, so it’s hard and heavy to lose here, says Gamle Oslo’s coach Adam Larsen Kwarasey to Dagsavisen.

First series loss

Because in a match that waved back and forth, the visitors in yellow ran away with the victory, in a match that could easily have ended 3–3 and 4–3 to Gamle Oslo. Bærum is thus the only team in the league that is undefeated. The loss was Gamle Oslo’s first this season in the series and their second in 2024, after there was also a loss to Skeid in the cup. And now Bærum has got a gap of five points down on the competitors.

– We actually play a good game, but we concede silly goals. It’s incredibly frustrating, because it’s a team we can easily beat. I am disheartened and disappointed, because they really have nothing. We give them goals. It’s frustrating. We must learn from it. But we take it with us that we are there and fight the whole match against the best team, says Kwarasey further.

– It is bitter. I think we control the entire 2nd half. All in all, an even match. I don’t think either team could say anything about a possible division of points, but it’s incredibly hard to be left with zero points. It is typical that they use the tricks in the book that you can against the tamping to save energy and drag out time, says Azemi.

– We take a lot of positive things with us. We control the second half and they hit a lot of distances. We are strong at the back there, but we make some simple mistakes that are fatal, unfortunately, he continues.

Fast-paced 1st half

Gamle Oslo came to the top match with injuries to key players Pamadou Jatta, Fredrik Graham Hansen and Ivar Furu, which was visible from the start. It was otherwise pleasing to see former Skeid goalkeeper Lars Martin Kvarekvål in the cage, after he signed for the club just a few days ago.

He occasionally got hot around the ear and had to see a 0-1 be a fact after half-time in the 1st half. Kristoffer Haugen was allowed to cut in without pressure and hit Bransdal’s forehead. How Gamle Oslo’s defense could leave the superior top scorer standing all alone at five meters is a mystery, but the striker put Bærum up 1-0 regardless.

0–1 became 1–1 six minutes later. Fitim Azemi tried to swing through Severin Sørlie, but the pass was actually broken. But Bærum whined something violently to himself, for which Sørlie thanked and bowed. He stole the ball from five meters and knocked in the equaliser.

Gamle Oslo seemed to get 1-1 at half-time, even though Bransdal had just before been dangerous forward and shot over the crossbar. But one minute into overtime, Kristoffer Haugen was knocked down by Erik Stafford. The referee pointed to the penalty mark, where Brandsdal was clinical and hammered the ball into the goal. Thus it was 2-1 at the break.

Full argument and two red cards

Seven minutes after the change of sides, Bærum went up 3–1. Fender Sowe found Felix Anthonessen, but the pass from the latter back to Sowe was broken. Christian Arvesen picked up the ball, did everything on his own when he placed the ball past Kvarekvål and into the goal, via the bar, and 3–1.

62 minutes had been played when the home team reduced to 2–3. A horrible wrong pass in the own half from Bærum ensured that Gamle Oslo came three to two. Daniel Tavakoli released at the perfect time to Fitim Azemi, who put the ball into the open goal from ten to twelve metres.

Gamle Oslo pushed hard to score after the reduction and Valstad came close to equalizing nine minutes before the end when he came alone with Vedeler. But the attempt was saved after a strong leg parade by the former YMCA goalkeeper.

A minute later there was some terrible tumult on the sidelines, where Gamle Oslo assistant Belmin Keranovic and Bærum coach Knut Nielsen ended up in a real argument and almost in a basket attack. It ended with a direct red card for both coaches. In other words – proper temperature into the final minutes!

Gigantic possibilities on tap

Bærum seemed paralyzed after the 2-3 scoring and was unable to create anything in the world against the match. Daniel Tavakoli was extremely close to equalizing after a free kick from Sørlie after 87 minutes. The free kick was chipped onto the back post and Tavakoli had a shot, but the ball hit the post and went out.

And if possible, they got an even bigger chance a minute before full time. Christiaan Wielens hit a wonderful cross that ended up at Felix Anthonessen. He was probably not aware that he was so alone in the box, and tried to flick the ball into the goal. He should – and could – have cushioned the ball and shot from five metres, but Vedeler saved the heel flick.

– I saw that I was alone, but I had cramps in both legs and was unable to do anything, says Anthonessen.

A pounce from Tavakoli from ten meters that went wide was the last thing that happened in the match. Thus, Bærum ran away with all three points in what was a sparklingly good football match!

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Battle facts

3rd division men, division 3 Saturday:

Old Oslo-Bærum 2–3 (1–2)

Vallhall: 200 spectators

Goals: 0–1 Lasse Brandsdal (24), 1–1 Severin Sørlie (30), 1–2 Bransdal (penalty, 45), 1–3 Christian Arvesen (52), 2–3 Fitim Azemi (62)

Yellow cards: Lars Kvarekvål, Erik Stafford, Fender Sowe, Gamle Oslo.

Old Oslo: Lars Kvarekvål – John Valstad (Joacim Sereba after 90), Erik Stafford, Fender Bowe, Noah Lentze – Remi Jensen Telle (Mikael Wenaas after 64), Felix Anthonessen, Daniel Tavakoli – André Marti (Christiaan Wielens after 64), Fitim Azemi, Severin Sørlie.

Other matches in the division: Flint – Åssiden 0-1, Åskollen – Ullern 3-2. Spills Sunday: Frigg – Upsale. Played on Monday: Nordstrand – Mjøndalen 2nd team, KFUM Oslo 2nd team – Skeid 2nd team, Sarpsborg 2nd team – Asker.

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