Lyn 1896’s return to the Eliteserien hasn’t turned out to be the baptism of fire many people were expecting. With nearly a third of the 2024 season gone, they’re in a healthy lower-mid-table position, and they’re still going strong in the Cupen. You can read more about that in Part 2 if you haven’t already.
This next chapter will take us to the halfway point of the Eliteserien season, as Marit Enstad’s team look to consolidate their top-flight status and make further Cupen progress.
This is where it all falls apart now, isn’t it?
LYN 1896 vs VIKING (Eliteserien – Match 9)
Hei, det er Marit, and things had started pretty well for us in the Eliteserien. After eight games, we were in 10th place – three points clear of the bottom two – having already played both Molde and Rosenborg at home. With some less daunting fixtures ahead in May and June, we now had a real opportunity to put even more distance between us and relegation..
May began with a respectable 1-1 home draw against Viking. The Stavanger club had struggled since returning to the Eliteserien in 2021, but they found themselves in mid-table after a decent start to this campaign.
They also found themselves ahead after 11 minutes, thanks to some good fortune. Former Lyn playmaker Fredrik Sannes’ free-kick was blocked in the box by August Erlingmark, but the deflection took the ball to Sannes’ midfield colleague Jonas Aaltonen. The 19-year-old Finn had a clear view on goal and couldn’t possibly mix.
20 minutes later, luck evened itself out. Lyn captain Benjamin Zalo‘s near-post flick-on from Max Oinas‘ corner struck Viking left-back Håkon Helland Hoseth in the chest. The ball came back to Zalo, who stabbed in his first top-flight goal to equalise.
We then had a major scare in the 33rd minute, as Aaltonen hit the post for ‘De Mørkeblå’ (the Dark Blues). That would be one of the defining moments of this match, which finished level after a low-quality second period which saw few real scoring chances.
LYN 1896 vs FREDRIKSTAD (Cupen – Round 3)
Three days later, our largest home attendance of the season witnessed our latest Cupen match. Most of the 2,818-strong crowd were Fredrikstad fans hoping to see a minor shock. The outnumbered Bastionen would not be outsung, though, as they tried to inspire our players to Round 4.
It took the best part of two hours, but we eventually repaid our fans’ faith and got through a third round without conceding. Mind you, this Lyn victory was as much down to Fredrikstad’s wasteful shooting as our own perseverance.
Over the course of the 120 minutes, the Aristokraten had 17 shots on goal, only three of which were from inside the penalty area. They also had only three shots from target – all from distance. The best of Eivind Aalvik‘s saves came after 86 minutes, when he pushed Håvard Åsheim’s low drive against his near post to keep the deadlock intact.
Aalvik’s visiting counterpart André Johansen was even busier at the other end. He saved ELEVEN shots from Lyn players, including FIVE from Niklas Helgesen. The 21-year-old frontman also missed the target twice, but it was his eighth and final attempt on goal that finally made the breakthrough.
Three minutes into the second additional half, a tenacious Sander Eng Strand stole the ball from Joona Veteli and played the ball out right to Andreas Öhman. The Swedish winger lifted a long ball down the line for Helgesen, who broke into the area and drove his shot home from a difficult angle.
After clinging onto our lead for the final 12 minutes, the final whistle confirmed our place in the last 16. A couple of days later, we were drawn away from home against the lowest-ranked team left in the competition – Raufoss, who were 2nd in their 2. divisjon group. We had five weeks to prepare for that match, but in the meantime, we could start focussing on the league again.
KRISTIANSUND vs LYN 1896 (Eliteserien – Match 10)
We then travelled north-west to Kristiansund… but the quality on display went south. Our experiment with a direct 4-4-2 fronted by Svein Melfjord and 16-year-old Vladimir Mølsæter didn’t exactly produce exciting, free-scoring football.
While we had goodness knows how many chances to beat the Uglan (Owls), their eagle-eyed goalkeeper Sean McDermott was equal to all of them. With some more clinical finishing from Melfjord or Kot Chol Tafesse, maybe we might’ve beaten the former Arsenal trainee.
Kristiansund were somehow even worse in front of goal, failing to hit the target even once. They did go very close in the 17th minute through a long-range effort by Mido – that’s the ex-Molde midfielder from Senegal, not the ex-Tottenham striker from Egypt. Another scare came in the 52nd minute, when veteran wing-back Erlend Sivertsen’s free-kick was nodded against the bar by young centre-half Tor Christian Weidemann.
We did grind out just a third Eliteserien clean sheet, thanks partly to a confident rearguard display from loanee Ole Jørgen Falk Larsen. Those fans who’d travelled from Oslo were far from happy, though, so we set out to repay them at the Bislett in midweek.
LYN 1896 vs HAUGESUND (Eliteserien – Match 11)
Actually, we just gave them another bore draw. Seeing as Haugesund were in the bottom two, failure to beat them was probably even more worrying in terms of our own survival hopes.
Both teams had half-chances early in the first half. Haugesund’s Fredrik Dahl was clear after receiving a cross from strike partner Marius Bustgaard Larsen in the 10th minute, but his powerful shot clipped the woodwork and went behind. Two minutes later, an opportunity for Öhman to put us ahead was pushed behind by goalkeeper Per Kristian Bråtveit.
After those close shaves, the game quickly fizzled out, and another 0-0 became inevitable. It didn’t help our cause that we had four players booked, including star performer Andreas Uran, who was subsequently suspended from our first Oslo derby of the season.
STABÆK vs LYN 1896 (Eliteserien – Match 12)
Stabæk vs Lyn was always a special occasion, and with both teams battling to stay clear of relegation, the atmosphere at the Nadderud Stadion would be electric. The hosts were now under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who’d recently gone back home after a couple of unsuccessful coaching stints in England with Wolves and Brentford.
Ole might’ve been at the wheel for Stabæk, but our journey to the Nadderud Stadion ended in a car crash. Our misfiring forwards failed to find the net for the third game in a row… and this time around, we didn’t have a solid defence to fall back on.
De Blaa celebrated ending Aalvik’s recent run of clean sheets about nine minutes before half-time. Thomas Zernichow‘s trip on Kevin Kabran had given them a free-kick on the left wing about 35 yards from goal. Kent-Are Antonsen’s delivery into the box was flicked on by Magnar Ødegaard, and then volleyed home by Norway Under-21s winger Ørjan Pedersen.
We then conceded to an even more impressive second strike in the 56th minute. At first, I thought Zalo had done well to block a shot from attacking midfielder Magnus Stamnestrø. That was until the ball deflected to the explosive Ghanaian wing-back Samuel Nortey, who powered in a rocket from an angle! [Now THAT’S naughty football! Sorry, Marit.]
I injected some fresh blood into our midfield for the final half-hour, but neither Jesper Sandberg nor Oinas could get us back in the game. Our position was now looking a bit more precarious after going five league games without a win, and the Bastionen were starting to lose faith…
[You really think it’s THAT bad, Eskil? After FIVE games? You should try supporting Fort William in Scotland’s Highland League. Hold on, what’s that… Fort William actually won a match?!]
KONGSVINGER vs LYN 1896 (Eliteserien – Match 13)
Fort William could probably have given Kongsvinger more of a contest than we did in our next game. KIL killed our defence with some excellent direct football before keeping our attack at bay to extend our scoreless run to four matches.
We fell behind in the ninth minute, thanks to yet another (un)fortunate deflection. Simen Lassen’s strike from the ‘D’ was blocked by Erlingmark, but inverted winger Sigurd Semlitsch picked up the loose ball and drilled in a cool low finish.
Our attempts to get back level were so few and pitiful that Kongsvinger keeper Andreas Smedplass only had to make two saves all game. Aalvik had to collect the ball from his own net the same number of times. The second of those came 12 minutes from full-time, when Eivind was caught out by midfielder Fredrik Sjølstad’s swerving strike from the edge of the area.
And so we went down to another poor 2-0 loss. If it was any consolation, at least we weren’t beaten by our old friend Marius Østvold, who missed the game with an ankle ligament injury. (I don’t know what it is with Marius, but every time I check to see how he’s getting on at Kongsvinger, he always seems to be injured! To be fair, that probably explains why he’s only played 66 league games in four years.)
The Eliteserien table certainly didn’t offer any solace. Kongsvinger leapfrogged us into 11th, and we ended May sitting only two points above the relegation zone. If our next home fixture – against fellow newly-promoted side Sogndal – wasn’t very important beforehand, it certainly was now.
LYN 1896 vs SOGNDAL (Eliteserien – Match 14)
I’m not sure what it is about the Bislett, but we seem afraid to score in front of the Bastionen. Our dreadful home record continued with another impotent display in an ill-tempered match against a Sogndal defence that was – admittedly – in strong form.
Defensively, we weren’t too bad, but luck was once again on the opposition’s side. In the 25th minute, a right-wing cross from Sogndal’s Vetle Skagestad deflected off Zernichow’s thigh and beat a helpless Aalvik. For some reason, the goals committee awarded this one to Skagestad instead of crediting it as a Zernichow own goal – not that it made our midfielder feel any better about himself.
I could forgive Thomas for that. I wasn’t so forgiving when Erlingmark handled a Tafesse free-kick four minutes into the second half. August had already been booked three minutes earlier for tripping Skagestad, and he knew that a red card was on its way.
Having to play almost the entire second period with only 10 men was disastrous, as was Melfjord’s finishing. Honestly, you could excuse Lyn fans for wanting to leave the ground early and go to bed. By the end of the evening, we were down in 14th place on a three-game losing streak and a five-game goalless run. Our Eliteserien dream was turning into a nightmare.
VÅLERENGA vs LYN 1896 (Eliteserien – Match 15)
The first half of our season ended at the Intility Arena – the home of perhaps our fiercest rivals. Vålerenga had led the Eliteserien in the early stages and were still flying high in 4th, despite some recent slip-ups. We were certainly up for the fight when it came to aggression, but it won’t surprise you to read that Enga dominated the attacking play.
We only had two shots on target – one in either half. Haugstad’s 2nd-minute strike was kept out by Kjetil Haug, who then denied Helgesen in the 71st. By then, we had fallen behind to Vålerenga’s best attack of the match.
Ten minutes into the second half, two of the hosts’ most experienced players linked up superbly. 33-year-old centre-half Jonatan Tollås Nation fed a high ball from his penalty area to 31-year-old striker Sam Johnson in the centre circle. The Liberia international easily outpaced Lyn defender Robin Lorentzen before cutting in a cool finish with his weaker left foot.
Johnson’s 18th-century English namesake would’ve struggled to find a word in his dictionary to describe just how we felt at full-time. While Steffen Iversen and his Vålerenga team celebrated a narrow derby victory, our season sank to a new low.
One goal in our last eight league games, and NONE in our last six. It was hard to see where the next goal – let alone victory – was coming from.
And having been as high as 9th nearly two months earlier, we were now in the relegation zone. Only Odd had scored fewer goals than us, and their inferior goal difference was all that was keeping us off rock-bottom. It spoke volumes that 14th-placed Bodø/Glimt were the only other side we’d taken three points off this season.
DESPERATE TIMES…
I think Öhman might have a problem with injuries. The Swedish right-flanker had to miss about seven weeks after breaking his ribs during pre-season. After spraining his knee ligaments in training, he now faced another seven weeks out.
Two other winter signings who’d endured difficult times at Lyn were centre-half Lorentzen and right-back Dejan Corovic. It had now become clear to me that neither of those defenders were consistent or talented enough to be playing in the Eliteserien. There was no point trying to pretend otherwise, especially with relegation now becoming more and more of a worry.
I made Lorentzen and Corovic available for transfer and dropped them into the Lyn 2 squad, where they’ll stay until we decide their futures – one way or another – in the summer. Right-winger Yannis Moula was also surplus to requirements, having only played in three senior matches for us this year.
Two other players whose Lyn futures were uncertain were midfielder Sandberg and right-back Markus Frydenlund. As they were still decent squad options, I wasn’t that desperate to get Jesper and Markus off the wage bill. Nevertheless, if any good offers came in for them over the summer, we would probably allow them to leave.
As you can probably tell, I was already planning a mid-season squad rebuild. In fact, it had already started.
This is Marius Høibråten – our new central defensive stopper. The 29-year-old former Norway youth international is very experienced at this level, having made a combined 193 Eliteserien appearances for four different clubs. He had been a free agent since leaving Kongsvinger at the end of last year, meaning we could sign him outside of the transfer window.
Marius couldn’t be registered for league duty until the registration window reopened in mid-July. He was, though, eligible to play in the Cupen immediately. Barely two days after signing a four-year deal, and having not kicked a ball in anger since November, Høibråten went straight into the starting XI for our Round 4 tie against Raufoss.
RAUFOSS vs LYN 1896 (Cupen – Round 4)
You know things are bad when you’re struggling to beat a team two divisions below you in the Cupen. Though the 5-2 scoreline and shot counts suggested that this was an easy route to the Quarter Finals, Raufoss actually held a 2-1 lead at the interval.
Things had actually started well enough for us, with Helgesen finally ending our drought in the 19th minute by volleying in a poorly-cleared corner from Erlingmark. Sadly, our lead lasted only 12 minutes before our 2. divisjon side responded with a half-volley of their own – from forward Sander Sjøstrøm.
After several chances to rebuild our advantage came to nothing, it was Raufoss who edged ahead on the stroke of half-time. Debutant Høibråten clumsily tripped Anton Henningsen in our six-yard box, thus allowing the hosts’ long-serving Swedish striker to score from the penalty spot.
I went for broke at half-time, bringing target man Mølsæter on to play up front with Melfjord. We went more direct for the second half and immediately got our reward after Høibråten tried to find Vladimir with a long ball. A wayward interception from Raufoss left-back David Parken Bakken presented Svein with a great opening that even a striker who’d gone seven games without scoring couldn’t pass up.
With parity restored, we could now start to make our greater quality count. In the 66th minute, Haugstad squared the ball across the box to Mølsæter, who calmly stroked in his first senior goal in his 10th appearance.
Raufoss tried to fight back until ‘Vlad the Impaler’ struck again from an 88th-minute counter-attack. After receiving the ball from Melfjord, Mølsæter dribbled past the last defender and thundered home for 4-2. Our new teenage hero also made our fifth goal, as a powerful strike deflected off the post – and goalkeeper Ole Kristian Lauvli – before going in.
Four second-half goals had turned the Cupen tie around and put us into the last eight for the first time since 2009. We’d avoided Eliteserien clubs in each of the first four rounds, but with only three lower-league teams left, the odds were against us getting yet another favourable draw. Sure enough, we got probably the WORST possible tie…
Yes, we drew 3-3 with Molde at the Aker Stadium three months ago, but that was before we realised just how challenging the Eliteserien really was. Also, the Bastionen have only seen seven home goals in nine games at the Bislett… and three of those were against a bunch of fourth-division semi-professionals. I really don’t fancy our chances.
Anyway, we’ve got a fortnight to prepare as best we can for the challenge ahead. Wish us luck, because I’m sure we’ll need it.
Before I go, let’s end this chapter by looking at the latest national league rankings. Unfortunately, some disappointing continental results have dented the Eliteserien’s reputation quite a bit. Likewise, Norway’s UEFA club coefficient ranking has dropped four places to 23rd – and that slide could continue unless 2024/2025 sees a big improvement.
That’s something to look forward to later in the week! Come back soon to see if Lyn can cause an almighty Cupen upset against Molde. If so, then it could be their springboard to survival!
“Takk for lesing!”
Fuller FM 
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