Rosenborg - Vålerenga 1-4
By Thomas Myren, 12 September 2004, 15:32
Rosenborg's "dress rehearsal" before the Champions League kicks off, ended in an embarrassing way. Therefore the battle of the Norwegian league title is still not over.
NOT CLOSER THAN THIS: The Vålerenga defenders "cleaned up" when Rosenborg came close to their goal. Thorstein Helstad (no. 24) to the right, made his RBK debut.
Photo: Åsmund Sjøberg
3rd placed Vålerenga did perform very well at the Lerkendal Stadium Saturday evening, and won against Rosenborg for the first time since 1995.
The first goal came after a duel between two players from the little village of Kyrksæterøra southwest of Trondheim. Vålerenga midfielder Ardian Gashi tricked Rosenborg captain Erik Hoftun, and could score 0-1 in a delicate way.
Then Rosenborg should have had a penalty kick. Vålerenga's Freddy dos Santos made a foul on RBK winger Øyvind Storflor inside the box, but the referee ment the situation started outside the box. Therefore Rosenborg only was given a free kick. The protests did though calm soon when Frode Johnsen scored with his head on the freekick from Fredrik Winsnes. Storflor by the way, had to leave the field with a thigh injury.
At this moment everyone thought Rosenborg was back on track. But just a minute after the equalizer, Vålerenga did score any other goal. Morten Berre was the goal scorer.
Before the 2nd half Rosenborg central defender Vidar Riseth had to give up because of sickness; some kind of a cold.
In the beginning of the half Rosenborg did have some initiative, but then Vålerenga suddenly scored once more. David Brocken's free kick from 25 metres went straight in.
Rosenborg tried to fight back, but didn't came closer to than a Hoftun shoot which hitted the post. Instead former Rosenborg striker Steffen Iversen could mark his return to Lerkendal with a goal in the final minutes.
If 2nd placed Tromsø win away against Molde on Sunday, they will only be one point behind Rosenborg.
"We were inaccurate in our play and seemed a bit rusty. We have to be concentrated in games like this, but today we wasn't. Our performance today was kind of embarrassing. The only thing to do now, is to regret this to the fans, and make sure that this won't happen again," Rosenborg coach Ola By Rise said to rbkweb.com.
"Vålerenga is a good team, but we also let them be good. Our defensive play today was poor," Rosenborg Director of Sports, Rune Bratseth, said.
Match Details
ROSENBORG
1-4
Vålerenga
Frode Johnsen 28
Ardian Gashi 20
Morten Berre 30
David Brocken 57
Steffen Iversen 89
