AMSTERDAM – Zarek Valentin notched an assist on the early equalizer as Bodø/Glimt stayed scorching hot with their sixth Tippeligaen victory in a row, a 5-1 home rout of IK Start.
Scant moments after Start opened the scoring on 10 minutes, Valentin sneaked forward from right back to return an over-hit cross back into the box, where Alexander Sørloth hammered home the first of his four goals on the day. After pitching in with a handful of defensive stops, the former Montreal Impact man nearly picked up another assist when his long throw was nodded just over the bar by Fitim Azemi seconds out of intermission.
After Alex DeJohn came on to take a central place in the Start back line, Valentin helped to set the table for Glimt's fourth. The American's cross was put on frame by Trond Olsen and Sørloth was on hand to bag the rebound for his hat trick. Danny Cruz entered the fray with four minutes left, shortly before the man of the day scored his fourth goal.
The win pushed Glimt to their season high-water mark of eighth place, while Start lost for the fourth straight time to remain three points above the danger line.
Around the league, Bob Bradley's Stabæk held on to second place with a 2-0 victory at Strømsgodset.
The manager got another helpful outing from midfielder Cole Grossman as the Blues extended their shutout streak to 221 minutes. Bradley's crew also won their first league away game in five tries to stay within seven points of leaders Rosenborg.
Ethan Horvath got an emergency call in the 73rd minute, entering just in time to concede the equalizing spot kick in Molde FK's 2-2 draw at Odds BK.
The champs were cruising along with a two-goal lead when starting netminder Andreas Linde's area handling gaffe led to a straight red card, reducing the visitors to 10 men. After being fooled by Oliver Occean's ensuing penalty kick, Horvath preserved the share with a last-minute stop on the Canada striker. Despite their collapse, Molde snapped a two-game slide to reach seventh place.
