Start vs Rosenborg
Norwegian EliteserienFull time · 18 Jul 2026
Lost · xG 0.92LLWLLLast 5
Full time
0 — 3
90+4'
⚽ Amin Chiakha 90' · ⚽ Simen Bolkan Nordli 90'
WLWWWLast 5
PRESSURE INDEX · FINAL▲ ROS · last goal · 90'
52
48
STA · 0.92 xG1.72 xG · ROS
This site contains betting-related content and is intended for users aged 18 and over. You must be 18 or older to gamble.
Connor Maguire · 28 July 2026
Start lost 3-0 at home to Rosenborg. The scoreline is ugly. The manner of it is worse. Two goals in the final minute of normal time turned a narrow defeat into a hiding, and nobody who watched this should be surprised. This is a club in serious trouble, and the numbers have been telling that story for a long time.
Rosenborg broke the deadlock from the penalty spot on 35 minutes. That is how the first half ended. One goal. A penalty. Start then gifted the afternoon away with a booking for arguing immediately after conceding. That tells you everything about the attitude in that dressing room. You have just gone a goal down. You do not stand there arguing. You get the ball and you compete. They did not do that.
Start made two substitutions at half-time, which suggests the manager knew it was not working. Rosenborg made one change of their own. The second half produced more of the same. Start had the ball in dangerous areas. They had more shots in total, 14 to Rosenborg's nine on target. They crossed the ball 23 times and only eight of those were accurate. That is the basics failing you in real time. You cannot put three goals past a side and then pump 23 crosses into a box if you cannot execute the delivery.
The real damage came at the death. Two goals in the 90th minute. Both credited to Rosenborg. One a right foot shot from a player who had been subbed on at 65 minutes and had already picked up a yellow card. The other, a left foot finish from the same player who converted the first-half penalty. Start meanwhile picked up another booking in the 90th minute for arguing. Again. Their fourth card in total across the afternoon when you count team events. That is not hard luck. That is a lack of accountability, full stop.
Start had 14 shots. Rosenborg had nine. Start had more dangerous attacks, 52 to 48. They had more shots inside the box. On the surface, you might try and argue they were the better side for large portions. I don't need a laptop to know that is nonsense. Three nil is three nil.
The thing is, shots mean nothing if you cannot put them on target. Start managed three shots on target from 14 attempts. Rosenborg had six from nine. That is the difference between a side that knows how to compete and a side that is just going through the motions. Rosenborg created two big chances. Start created zero. You can have all the dangerous attacks you want. If you cannot create a big chance, you are not threatening anybody.
Start also attempted 23 crosses and connected properly with eight. That is a 35 per cent accuracy rate on the most basic delivery in football. They also relied heavily on long passes, 76 in total compared to Rosenborg's 52. That tells me a side that has no real plan in the final third. Hoof it and hope. That is not a standard I can accept from any professional football team.
Rosenborg won 49 duels to Start's 67. Start actually won more physical battles on the day and still got beaten 3-0. That is remarkable in the wrong way. Winning duels and losing games. That means the decision-making once you win those duels is the problem. Desire without execution is worthless.
Start are 16th in the Eliteserien. Bottom of the table. They have two wins in 15 games this season. They have conceded 34 goals. Thirty four. In 15 matches. That is not a defensive system failing. That is a group of players who do not understand what it means to defend properly as a unit.
Their away form is catastrophic. One win in their last five away games, with four losses and 16 goals conceded. Their overall form across the last ten games reads two wins, one draw, seven losses with 26 goals against. That is relegation form. That is worse than relegation form, actually.
Rosenborg are sitting ninth in the table with 18 points from 14 games. They are not a top side this season. They have their own problems. Two long-term injuries in their squad. Three moderate injuries listed coming into this game. And yet they came to Kristiansand and won 3-0 without breaking sweat in the final analysis. A mid-table side with injuries tore Start apart. That is how bad things are.
Start also have two players out long-term themselves. One has been out since March 2026. Another since May 2025. Over a year out for one of their players. That context matters. But it does not explain giving away arguing bookings at the 36th minute and the 90th minute in the same match. That is a standards problem. That is a culture problem.
The conversion rate has to improve. Fourteen shots and three on target is unacceptable. The crossing has to improve. Twenty-three crosses and eight accurate is unacceptable. The discipline has to improve. Four bookings across the day, two of them for arguing, is unacceptable. Start have conceded goals in every away game in their last five. Their clean sheet percentage at home across the last ten games sits at under 17 per cent.
The thing is, none of this is new information. They were bottom of the table last season too. They have been here before. They did just enough to stay up and they have carried the same problems into 2026. At some point someone has to look at this squad and ask hard questions about whether the desire is really there. I watched this match. I saw a team that crossed 23 times and could not put a single big chance on the board. I saw a team that argued with officials instead of defending. I saw a team that conceded twice in the last minute of normal time.
Rosenborg did not win this by playing brilliantly. They won it because Start made it easy for them. End of.
Edge · SportSignals+
Closing-line value and settled EV for every pick in this match.
Open SportSignals+Correct means the selection settled as won on the 90-minute result. Every selection counted here was recorded before kickoff. Past performance does not guarantee future results.