Þór Akureyri secured a 1-0 victory away to ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar in the 21st round of the Úrvalsdeild on Friday evening. The result moves the visitors further clear of their hosts in the lower half of the table. By then, both sides had endured difficult stretches, with ÍBV losing four of their last five league games and Þór struggling for consistency of their own.
The decisive moment arrived just before the interval when S. Gunnarsson found the net in the 45th minute. The goal came after a period of sustained pressure from the home side, who had already seen V. Valor miss a penalty in the 30th minute. And here's the thing about these encounters — they rarely turn on possession figures alone.
ÍBV dominated the ball with 72 per cent of possession and registered 13 shots, five on target. Yet their two big chances created could not be converted. Þór, with just one big chance and two shots on target, made theirs count. To be fair, the visitors also faced a red card that changed the complexion of the second half.
B. Brynjolfsson was sent off in the 82nd minute for Þór after collecting a second caution. The dismissal came despite the visitors having led for most of the contest and not needing to defend desperately. The home side pushed for an equaliser but ran out of time with the pitch cut up badly by the final whistle.
The result leaves ÍBV in 12th place on 17 points from 22 matches, while Þór move to 10th with 18 points from 21 games. The gap between them widens to a point, though the hosts have played a game more. The table goes out of the window in these games, but points matter when the season closes.