Fire without victory in two months:

– It’s hard. Sorry. It has been a difficult period in which football matches are not won, Kåre Ingebrigtsen tells VG.

61 days. Or two months a day if you like. It was then that Brann won the Elite Series for the last time. Against Stabæk in Nadderud (2-0). In the soccer city of Bergen, it is considered a disaster. Ingebrigtsen was going to lift the team, and even announced ambitions for short-term league gold when he was introduced in August.

He admits that he has no regrets about scoring difficult goals when he got the job after his predecessor Lars Arne Nilsen. And he says: – I was a little aware of what I was looking for. It is a team that has only won 16 soccer games in two years. And then I can’t say that it won’t surprise me that it takes time. But honestly, I was hoping that we had gone further than what has been shown to us so far.

Now it smells like Brann’s descent. It was a victory in nine games. Three have ended in a draw. And five have given losses. Give only six points. Down to start in qualifying spot (lost to Sandefjord on Saturday 0-1) are five points.

– I’m looking at the table. Those coaches who say he doesn’t lie. But I think that we can just start to win football matches, and it doesn’t depend so much on those in front of us at the table, says Ingebrigtsen.

It looked promising for Brann with the strong wind at the stadium Saturday night. They had taken over. And the biggest opportunity in the first half. Fredrik Haugen hit from a distance, hit the crossbar and sparked hope for the Reds.

– You must realize that we are at war.

Scorer Barmen smiled a bit after a point, like the coach using the word Hawaiian soccer.

– It took us a bit to get the ball into the net. Stabæk takes some initiative before launching a final sprint. But we must realize that we are at war, we need all the points, Kristoffer Barmen tells TV Norway.

Kåre Ingebrigtsen and his newly hired assistant Eirik Horneland, who, like Ingebrigtsen, was assigned the position at Rosenborg as head coach – joked and laughed on the bench – and probably had the feeling of a long-awaited triumph.

But doubts obviously gripped the famous coaching duo, and Brann’s selected eleven players, as Stabæk took the lead after 51 minutes played. Emil Bohinen hit a nifty pass, as he usually does, and when Jon-Helge Tveita helped out with a clumsy bunt, the way was open for Oliver Edvardsen, who easily scored on Håkon Opdal.

Four minutes later came the opportunity to double Stabæk’s lead. However, Marcus Antonsson decided he wanted to do his job and cleared it with a sure header.

Then Brann responded after a long period of pressure. Gilli Rolantsson swung into a corner where Petter Strand put his toe in and struck. Kristoffer Barmen put the tie with his head.

– It will be a somewhat mediocre environment when we haven’t won for so long. But I am convinced that exactly this the game we had won with a full crowd. We miss the fans so much now during the Korean crisis. They are our twelfth man, says Kristoffer Barmen.

It has been a long time since Stabæk won in Bergen. Brann had four league champions in a row. That statistic, without loss, is five years old. But they are like three points that Brann needs now.

– a bit naive

Berries that have proven strong at home in Nadderud, but have gotten dirty in foreign grass this fall. Coach Jan Jönsson’s team had zero points in the last two, and 0-6 in goal difference (against Odd and Sarpsborg), but could have easily won in Bergen.

– We are good in a strange way. Sometimes we are a bit naive. But we are probably the team with the most opportunities. And this match could have ended with three points, but we have to take one, Jan Jönsson tells TV Norway.

Opdal saved a great opportunity at the end of the match. While Brann “saw the ball in the goal” when Bamba was inches away seconds before the end.

Emil Bohinen delivered another good match for Stabæk. He ruled the midfield. He won the important duels and had scorers. But he was not satisfied with a single point.

– I think the way we let in goals is cheap. We had good control at 1-0, and we should have punctured the game and went up to 2-0 shortly after, says Emil Bohinen.

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