Start Women beat Viking 5-2 in the 1. divisjon women's regular season on Friday evening. The top two sides in the table met at the home ground, and the hosts showed their quality with a convincing victory. By then, both teams had already played eight games, but Start's unbeaten run finally met a setback for their opponents.
K. Clement opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute and added a second just before half-time. M. Myrvold extended the lead to three goals in the sixty-fifth minute before F. Pedersen pulled one back for Viking forty minutes later. N. Heggheim doubled Viking's tally with two quick goals in the eightieth and eighty-first minutes, but M. Myrvold restored the two-goal cushion in stoppage time.
And here's the thing about cup football — it has its own rules. Regular season matches demand consistency, and Start had been building momentum with five wins in their last five outings. The loss to Arna-Bjørnar earlier in the month looked like an anomaly, and this performance suggested they were weighing up another strong run.
To be fair, Viking's response showed character. They had won six of their eight games before this fixture, including a dominant 6-0 victory over Kolbotn. But the away end never stopped despite going behind, and their late goals meant they stayed within touching distance of the leaders.
Start remain top of the table with twenty points from eight games, now with six wins and two draws. Viking sit one point behind in second place with six wins, one draw and one defeat. The gap remains tight at the summit, and the table goes out of the window in these games.