Even an engineer in Asker or a rentenist at Briskeby could not hold back a “we there best” tonight after Bodø/Glimt gave the stars from Lazio a lesson in polar football they will never forget.
The big hero tonight was midfielder Ulrik Saltnes from Brønnøysund who scored both goals. – The 32-year-old has been Bodø/Glimt player all his life. His goal was a pleasant surprise.
In the first quarter-final of the Europa League, Bodø/Glimt won 2 – 0 over Lazio at Aspmyra.
In the beginning of the game, it almost seemed as if it was the Bodø/Glimt players who were most affected by the winter, but as both teams played warm, it became more and more clear that this was our evening.
There has been a lot of talk about how much money will now benefit Bodø/Glimt, but everyone who has visited Aspmyra knows that that money will have feet to walk on.
The first goal came just after halftime, Bodø/Glimt warn up with real passing football, Patrick Berg plays to Ole Didrik Blomberg who through to Ulrik Saltnes, he puts the ball nicely in the goal. 1 – 0.
Goal number two came after 70 minutes: Jens Petter Hauge plays Ulrik Saltnes through. He stands just in front of goal and lobs over the goalkeeper, Romagnoli stretches as far as he can get hold of the ball and gets it out, but the ball was clearly way over the line. 2 – 0.
Then it happened again. The football multi-millionaires from Serie A got on the plane to Bodø and thought it would be an easy match. Last time it was Jose Mourinho who led Roma to a historically disgraceful defeat against Glimt, on Thursday it was Italy’s 6th best club’s turn.
Lazio faced an opponent with a coach who knows exactly how to stop big clubs, players who love to face blasé European superstars, supporters who turn Aspmyra into a continuous yellow-black quagmire for the opponents.
We have seen a lot of raw Bodø/Glimt in the Conference League and Europa League, but Jens Petter Hauge believes this surpasses most things.
“One of the toughest performances we’ve had,” said Jens Petter Hauge after the game.
Bodø/Glimt pushed on throughout the first half, in the 46th minute the reward came with a goal involving five Glimt players, with Saltnes last on the ball.
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Lazio were totally on the defensive and the home side continued to produce a bunch of scoring chances. Then it sat twenty minutes before the end, again from Saltnes.
Lazio should be thankful they got away with only a 2-0 loss. For Bodø/Glimt, however, a strong starting point before the second leg. We guess the Lazio players already at half-time longed to return to a safe environment with 20 degrees and sun in Rome.
Manchester United drew away at Groupama Stadium against Lyon 2 – 2.
Tottenham drew 1 – 1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Eintracht Frankfurt and neither Rangers nor Athletic Club were able to find the net at Ibrox Stadium. – That despite the fact that Robin Pröpper was sent off after 13 minutes and Rangers had to play the rest of the game with 10 men.
