Football, National top league | Promotion slip for Norway when Serbia won 2-0 – Solbakken’s first Ullevaal loss

After 22-4 in the first eight home games under his leadership, he saw the ninth end 0-2.

Erling Braut Haaland had a great chance to score after just 22 seconds, but just like in Slovenia on Saturday, Norway was stopped by a good and lucky goalkeeper. Vanja Milenkovic-Savic is not of the same class as Jan Oblak, but his save was spectacular and extremely important to the outcome of the game. After a strong start, Norway faded.

Serbia took the lead in beautiful fashion a few minutes before the break. Dusan Tadic found Filip Kostic with a delicious pass behind the back of Julian Ryerson, and the winger made it to the dead line before hitting an angle into the box. At the nearest corner of the five-meter box, Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic steered the ball into the goal. The Norwegian defense forces were only spectators on that occasion.

Norway tried to fight back, but messed it up again early in the second half. In the 54th minute, Sander Berge hit an ugly wrong pass in his own half, and Serbia quickly countered against an overwhelmed defence. Vlahovic carried the ball across the 16-yard box and pushed it to a free Aleksandar Mitrovic, who scored his sixth goal in this year’s Nations League. He thus joined Haaland on the tournament’s top scorer list.

Downturn

Norway had the group victory far down in the pocket after the four June games, but was unable to take a point in September and must play in the B division in the next edition of the national league as well. It is Serbia that will be allowed to compete against the elite in two years.

Sweden’s point loss against Slovenia means that Norway did not finish second in the group either. It dashed hopes of being seeded at level 2 in the EC draw on 9 October, and the road to the play-offs in Germany in 2024 got a little longer for Norway on Tuesday.

In front of a packed Ulleval, Norway started the match strongly and forced a counterattack that almost resulted in a goal before half a minute had been played. Haaland left the ball to Alexander Sørloth, who led it towards the defense at high speed and set up Haaland in his dream position. He shot towards the far corner, but the goalkeeper got a hand on the ball and knocked it over.

The Norwegian team started the game with high pressure and won the ball favorably time and time again. Serbia’s back three had great difficulty in containing, and the Norwegians produced several opportunities in the first ten minutes. But then the Serbs entered the fray. With hard-hitting pressing and dueling play, they made the home players turn the wrong way and play the ball to the side or backwards. The move disappeared, and Norway stopped getting opportunities.

Lowered

For a long time, Norway had good control at the back, but gradually Serbia began to get into dangerous situations, often directed by captain Dusan Tajic. First, a cross from Andrija Zivkovic caused trouble for Ørjan Nyland, then the same man set up Tadic, who in the 34th minute found the head of Vlahovic in the box. The header towards the corner looked like a goal, but Nyland parried with a tiger leap and received a hug from Martin Ødegaard, while the crowd shouted his name.

The joy was not to last long. In the 42nd minute, Serbia took the lead, and many people probably had a premonition even then. At 0-2, hope was almost lost. The Norwegian team we have seen in the last two matches is far from the level it showed in June when Serbia was beaten once and Sweden twice in June.

(© NTB)