Round 23: Stabæk Nearly There, Weird Things Happen

Fredrikstad win away to Lillestrøm for the first time since their return to the big leagues, Aalesund win only their second away-game of the season against plucky Strømsgodset and Bodø/Glimt's unbeaten run at home is ended by a team who hadn't won since July. The title-race may be all but decided, but you can still count on the Tippeliga to throw up weird and perplexing results..

Round 23:

Stabæk 3 - 0 HamKam

Viking 2 - 1 Tromsø

Bodø/Glimt 1 - 2 Vålerenga

Lillestrøm 1 - 2 Fredrikstad

Strømsgodset 0 - 1 Aalesund

Lyn 1 - 2 Rosenborg

Good Day

Stabæk

They predictably outclassed HamKam, though the bottom-dwellers held on for a laudable period of time before Stabæk's superior pass-and-move football finally broke them down. Everyone knows by now that Stabæk will win the title, but Fredrikstad still have a theoretical chance of catching up to them: "It's frustrating not to be able to celebrate, but hopefully we can can do so soon," Daniel Nannskog told the press after the game.

Fredrikstad

Proved to be a surprisingly resilient bunch (even without the injured Kasey Wehrman) when they withstood a late barrage from the thuggish long-ball merchants that are Lillestrøm. 

Vidar Nisja

The impish Viking-midfielder has had a tough time of it since his vaguely controversial move from local rivals Bryne last season, but with two terrific goals in two games (first a cheeky chip against Vålerenga and now a great turn and finish against Tromsø) the youngster is starting to show the Norwegian public what he is all about. Good on him.

Nisja: Making his long-awaited breakthrough

Kjetil Rekdal

After a grand total of one point in three games doubts were starting to creep in over his appointment, but then he comes up with a cracking result. Aalesund's second win away from home this season could prove absolutely crucial in their fight to stay up.

Lasse Olsen

The Aalesund-winger produced the miss of the century (a must-see), if his team hadn't gone on to win the game the man would surely have been a wreck this morning.. 

Vålerenga

Mad Martin was fuming after the game because of some truly dodgy refereeing, but credit must go to Vålerenga for managing to keep their focus and turn the game around when seemingly everything went against them. 

Vålerenga: Impressive turnaround up North

Bad Day

Lillestrøm

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a pass from Frode Kippe. The Lillestrøm we all know and loathe are well and truly back. 

There's nothing more amusing than seeing Vidar Riseth, a man with the intellectual capacity of a dead herring, go on television and complain that their opponents spent too much time on the floor after a game where Lillestrøm looked more interested in kicking their opponents than playing football. Perhaps if you stopped kicking them and being late in each and every tackle they'd be able to stay on their feet. Just a suggestion.

Lillestrøm: Annoyed that people fall down when they are kicked

Jan Tore Ophaug

The Fredrikstad-defender will be out for roughly six months with a fractured knee-cap. Ouch.

Tromsø

Deflated and demoralized after last weekend's bizarre capitulation against Lillestrøm, Tromsø looked like a team lacking in belief when they were defeated by Viking. They played well and did all the things you need to do away from home, but when it really mattered they lacked sharpness in front of both goals. 

Svein-Erik Edvartsen

The much maligned referee got it all wrong again yesterday when he sent off Vålerenga-youngster Harmeet Singh for a challenge that although careless didn't warrant anything more than a yellow.

While fjordball for one thought Edvartsen's one man-crusade against shirt-tugging in the area earlier this season was a laudable if somewhat infuriating idea, the man just can't seem to stay out of the headlines. Which, no matter how you look at it, is a bad thing for a referee.

HamKam

Getting mauled by Stabæk is to be expected, but Aalesund's unlikely win against Strømsgodset means HamKam are rock bottom again. Their captain Markus Ringberg reckons they might have to win all their remaining three games to stay up and, well, they won't.