Njarðvík beat Grotta 4:1 in the 18th round of the 1. deild on Thursday evening. The away side took control early and never let go, with O. Diouck and C. McLagan each finding the net twice. Grotta's home record takes another dent as they remain in ninth place.
A. Magnusson opened the scoring at the 3rd minute, giving Grotta a fleeting lead. To be fair, it didn't last long — O. Diouck equalised at 17, and V. Johannsson restored parity by the 32nd minute. And here's the thing: Diouck put Njarðvík ahead again at 37, before McLagan's brace in stoppage time sealed it. Four goals in the opening half, and Grotta had already made four changes at the break.
Diouck was taken off at 40, replaced by A. Sigurdarson, while Grotta shuffled their defence with three substitutions at 46 minutes. T. Ingolfsson picked up a yellow card just before the interval, and G. Smit followed suit in the 85th. The goalkeepers were swapped too — A. Hjorleifsson came on twice at 83 and 84, which tells you something about the shape Grotta were trying to find.
Grotta had 51 percent possession and 86 attacks compared to Njarðvík's 77, but only five shots on target against six. The numbers don't lie — they created more but couldn't convert. Njarðvík were sharper when it mattered, and by then Grotta had already thrown everything at the game without success.
The result leaves Njarðvík fourth on 38 points, six ahead of Grotta's 27. The gap has widened after two sides met in what was supposed to be a closer affair. Grotta cannot afford another slip if they want to climb, and the away end never stopped talking about it afterwards.