Start hosted Fredrikstad in the Eliteserien on 8 August 2026. The visitors took all three points with a solitary goal. G. Wesseh found the net in the twenty-ninth minute to settle the contest.
And here's the thing about that opening goal — it came early enough to frame everything that followed. Wesseh's strike gave Fredrikstad a cushion they would need to protect. Start pushed back but could not find an equaliser.
Fredrikstad made changes to manage the lead. Strannegard came off in the forty-sixth minute, followed by Reitan fifty-two minutes in. Wesseh himself was substituted at the fifty-eighth minute, with Ghebreyohannes, Ampofo, Leach, Amundsen and Husebo completing the reshuffle.
By then the numbers told a familiar story. Start had ten attempts but only two on target, while Fredrikstad converted four of their ten shots. The hosts created one big chance, the visitors one more — neither side could stretch the lead further.
Possession sat at 49 per cent for Start against 51 for the away side. That split meant little when you looked at shots accuracy — Start managed fifteen per cent, Fredrikstad twenty-nine. The visitors closed the game out with fewer risks.
Fredrikstad moved to eighth place with twenty-six points from nineteen matches. Start remained sixteenth with thirteen points, three wins and four draws. The gap between them widened to thirteen points after this round.