Yet another time, Rosenborg had a terrible start. And, as we have seen so many times now, one didn't manage to stand up and fight before it was too late.

Start went out with high aggression, and ran over RBK in the duels. Still, Rosenborg goalkeeper Espen Johnsen must take most of the blame for the sad fact that three early free kicks from the home team ended in scored goals.

1-0 came when he was badly positioned at the far post, so that Kristofer Hæstad could easily head into an open goal after winning a head duel with Alejandro Lago.

The two next goals were clear mistakes by the southlander, who has always struggled with the field work. 2-0 came when Johnsen boxed the ball into Todi Jónsson's head, who could do nothing but score. 3-0 came when the guardian of the net, quite pointless, chose to throw himself into the fray at 16 metres. Yet again, Jónsson was there.

"It was three unhappy goals, and at the same time, we weren't skilled enough," Per-Mathias Høgmo commented to broadcaster Canal+.

And as if that wasn't enough: After 25 minutes, Johnsen tried to shield a bad Start shot out over the line. Just as the ball oassed the line, goalscorer Jónsson came and mowed down the RBK keeper - who jumped back up and kicked the Start forward in his leg. Jónsson answered with a theatrical fall. Still, the red card was shown.

"I lost my head and have to apologize. That foreigner did a hard tackle, and from behind. He tackles like a man, but makes a really interesting and humorous fall after that," Espen Johnsen said.

Hence, Ivar Rønningen had to get his shirt on and run out on the field. The reserve keeper had a solid hour in Kristiansand, but couldn't prevent Todi Jónsson from his third goal of the day, after Vidar Riseth fumbled the ball away at 16 metres.

At 4-0 the match result was of course settled, and Start invited RBK into the game. Øyvind Storflor made good use of that. The left winger finished a beautiful RBK attack before half time by heeling in a Christer Basma pass, and in the second half he made yet a reducer with a well placed shot at the close post.

Rosenborg did however not manage to score a third, which would have added some excitement again. Instead, Steinar Pedersen made the final 5-2 goal just before the end, when he headed a corner via Lago's hip and into the net, behind an outmanoeuvred Rønningen.

"I am satisfied with the last 60 minutes. Then we see what lives in this team. We have a high moral and play good football," Høgmo stated after his first league game as a Rosenborg coach.

Match Details

Start	5-2	ROSENBORG
Kristofer Hæstad 8 Todi Jónsson 12, 30, 37 Steinar Pedersen 84		Øyvind Storflor 45, 62

Saturday 13 August 2005 18:30
Tippeliga, Kristiansand stadium
Attendance: 12 272

Rosenborg [4-2-3-1]
Espen Johnsen - Christer Basma, Vidar Riseth, Alejandro Lago, Mikael Dorsin - Roar Strand (Alexander Ødegaard 73), Ørjan Berg - Jan Gunnar Solli, Frode Johnsen (Ivar Rønningen 28), Øyvind Storflor - Thorstein Helstad (Daniel Braaten 65)

Yellow card RBK: Frode Johnsen, Daniel Braaten
Red card RBK: Espen Johnsen (24)