All square in hard-fought derby

Brann made only one change to the squad that crushed Kongsvinger away last weekend before the game in Haugesund. Yaw Ihle Amankwah served a ban for three yellow cards, and Olafur Örn Bjarnason took his place in the central defence. Haugesund is a small town only a few hours drive from Bergen, and in Norwegian geographical terms the match is defined as a local derby. Brann's current head coach Rune Skarsfjord is also the former head coach of Haugesund, and this also added fuel to the already intense atmosphere of the matchup, as not everyone in Haugesund appreciated the way Skarsfjord left Haugesund for Brann.

Brann started the game well and created a few chances in the first five minutes, but it did not take long before Haugesund responded. Both sides had been given instructions by their respective head-coaches to start the game with great intensity, and it made for an eventful first half. The game was hard-fought and no players held anything back in the duels. Haugesund had the biggest scoring chances in the first half, but it was Brann who scored first. Hassan El Fakiri sent the ball forward to Jan Gunnar Solli. He made it to the touchline before sending a low and hard cross in front of the goal. The goalkeeper was not quick enough to block the cross, and Erik Mjelde slid in and scored from a short distance to give Brann the lead.

The game continued rolling back and forth, but it was clear that Haugesund were taking bigger risks and also created more scoring opportunities. Four minutes were added for injury time, and Brann looked like they were going to catch a lucky break. A bad pass in the Haugesund defence was snapped up by Erik Huseklepp, but somehow the referee managed to stop the the play due to offside. The call was clearly wrong, and instead Haugesund counter-attacked and got an equalizer five seconds before the end of injury time. Perhaps the equalizer was well deserved judging from shots on target, but the way it happened was demoralizing.

The second half continued much like the first, with great intensity and both teams looking to attack. But neither team managed to score after halftime, and the game ended all square, and Haugesund are still undefeated at home this season. Brann's next game is against Stabæk at home sunday July 18th.

PS! Both Eirik Bakke and Petter Vaagan Moen received a yellow card

MATCH FACTS:
Haugesund stadion, 5 000 attendance
Haugesund - Brann 1-1 (1-1)
Goals: 0-1 Erik Mjelde (24.), 1-1 Eirik Vespestad Mæland (45.).
Yellow cards: Tor Arne Andreassen, Trygve Nygaard, Haugesund. Erik Mjelde, Eirik Bakke, Olafur Örn Bjarnason, Hassan El Fakiri, Petter Vaagan Moen, Brann.
Red cards: -
Referee: Kristoffer Helgerud

Haugesund (4-4-2): Per Morten Kristiansen - Chris Pozniak, Jarle Steinsland, Vegard Skjerve, Joakim Våge Nilsen - Jacob Sørensen, Eirik Vespestad Mæland (Juska Savolainen from 69.), Trygve Nygaard, Tor Arne Andreassen - Nikola Djurdjic (John Pelu from 87.), Thomas Sørum.

Brann (4-2-3-1): Håkon Opdal - Hassan El Fakiri, Olafur Örn Bjarnason, Rodolph Austin, Bjørnar Holmvik - Jan Gunnar Solli, Cato Guntveit - Erik Mjelde, Petter Vaagan Moen, Erik Huseklepp - Eirik Bakke (David Nielsen from 77.).