Haugesund beat Strømmen 4-2 in the First Division's regular season round 23 on Saturday at Haugesund Stadium. The hosts kept their place at the summit of the table, while the visitors remain in eleventh position. And here's the thing — we had tipped this before kickoff, calling for a home win with 70 per cent confidence, and the result followed that reading.
Crestani opened the scoring in the second minute, a quick strike that set the tone. Diarra doubled the lead with a penalty in the eighteenth minute, and then added his second in the thirty-third. Somesi made it four in the forty-fourth minute, just before Norbye pulled off an own goal for Strømmen in the same period. By then the hosts had built an unassailable cushion.
Substitutions began in the forty-sixth minute with Camara on for Haugesund, followed by Paulsen and Kristengard at sixty-one. Nord came on for the hosts seventy-one minutes in, while Strømmen brought on Beck and Remmem at the seventy-eighth. Leite and Sandberg were paired together in the final substitution window at eighty-eight.
Strømmen responded through Sandberg in the eighty-second minute, a goal that gave the visitors something to talk about. Rohd added a second for the away side in the first minute of stoppage time, but the damage had been done. Nilsen and Ogboji picked up yellow cards for Haugesund and Strømmen respectively in the closing stages.
The statistics tell a straightforward story. Haugesund dominated with 137 attacks to 69, and their possession edge of 53 per cent to 47 per cent reflected the flow of the game. Eight shots on target for the hosts against three for the visitors, and nine corners to four — the numbers confirmed what the scoreboard showed.
Haugesund now have 49 points from 22 games, sixteen wins and five defeats. Strømmen sit on 25 points with seven wins and eleven losses. The gap between them widened further, and the home side kept knocking on the door for more, while the visitors could only watch from the outside.
