(Tromsø – Sandefjord 3–0) August Mikkelsen (21) was the player in this year’s Eliteserien who had reached the most finishes without scoring a goal. On Saturday, the drought was over for the attacker.
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Tromsø’s attacking jewel had eight goals in last year’s elite series season, but ahead of the match against Sandefjord it has not been right in front of goal for the 21-year-old in the 2022 season. In all tournaments, there were 12 games since Mikkelsen’s last appearance before Saturday.
The attacker had a total of 30 registered finishes without a single goal.
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He finally broke that streak when he increased Tromsø’s lead to 2–0 from the penalty spot – with his 31st finish – after he had been clumsily brought down by Jesper Taaje inside the 16-metre area.
A few minutes before, Eric Kitolano had sent Tromsø into the lead after a lovely solo performance by the midfielder. He advanced many meters with the ball on his own before sticking the ball in the crossbar from just over 20 meters away.
– Yes, ha-ha, we can say that, says Kitolano when the Discovery+ reporter asks if the score was a roll of six.
– It wasn’t the best game we’ve played with the ball, but we were efficient and scored with what we had. We are happy with three points. That was what we needed today, he continues.
–Kitolano was tight-lipped about the score for Discovery+ at half-time, but it was a clearly satisfied 24-year-old who went into the dressing room.
Kitolano was also pleased when he made himself the scorer of two goals just after the break. He put Tromsø into a 3-0 lead from five meters after the markings in the Sandefjord defense failed completely. The job for Kitolano did not become any more difficult as a result of Lasse Nilsen’s great preparatory work on the left flank.
Tromsø had full control of Sandefjord under the hot sun in northern Norway. The visitors struggled to get big chances – and chances in general. Sandefjord was between 2–0 and 3–0 for a decent period, but the air burst out of the balloon for the Vestfold team when Kitolano’s 3–0 scoring was a fact.
– We defend well. They work rock hard defensively. We would have liked to do even more with the ball, because it was possible to play out their recovery pressure, says Tromsø coach Gaute Helstrup after the match to Discovery+.
–The biggest chance for the blue shirts came with 20 minutes left on the clock when Sivert Gussiås was nicely played through by Mohamed Ofkir, but Gussiås’ finish was well saved by Jakob Haugaard in the Tromsø cage.
With Saturday’s victory, Tromsø secures an important three points in the bottom battle. The team is still in 14th place, but it is close between the teams just above the table. Sandefjord has 20 points after 16 games played and is in 9th place.
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