Rosenborg - Arsenal 1-1
By Håvard Lindheim, 30 September 2004, 11:25
"A marvellous game by Rosenborg," Ola By Rise stated after the good show against the English masters.
CLEAR MESSAGE FROM KJERNEN: «Norwegian fans - Norwegian teams»
Photo: Thomas Myren
Ola By Rise had to do without a knee-injured Ørjan berg in the first Champions League match in two years at Lerkendal. As a result, Jan Gunnar Solli started in a position unusual to him; the central midfielder. Roar Strand, however, got rid of his inguinal injury just in time, and could as a result keep the lead on Erik Hoftun in number of Champions League matches. Strand now has an impressive 57 matches - one more than his team mate.
The match had the worst possible start. After merely six minutes, Espen Johnsen had to pick the ball out from the net. Namesake Frode Johnsen tried to clear a corner from the left, but the ball ended up at Fredrik Ljungberg's feet who easily scored.
But RBK stood up after the early punch, and the remains of the half was even. The home team, however, struggled with low quality in the passes; from unprecise passes in front of the goal to dangerous misses in the midfield. Luckily for Rosenborg, Arsenal couldn't use the free servings.
After 40 minutes the first great chance came for Rosenborg. Øyvind Storflor played Christer Basma, who heeled the ball on to Strand. Basma ran through, got the ball back and made a dangerous pass into the area. The Arsenal defenders however cleared the ball out to a corner, and the following corner kick from Fredrik Winsnes was resultless as well.
Rosenborg's left side started the second half vigourously. First, Storflor made a perfect pass to Frode Johnsen. The top scorer's heading was unfortunately too weak, and the ball ended on top of the net. A minute later, Big Øyvind was at it again. This time, he passed to Mikael Dorsin who made it to the line before passing out into the field. There, Roar Strand waited, but the veteran's shot was stopped by Sol Campbell.
The third time, however, Øyvind Storflor was to succeed. After having been played free by Winsnes, Storflor rolled the ball in to Strand. This time, noone could stop the shot from the 34-year old. The ball went like a projectile into the cross of the goal. The Lerkendal audience - apart from about one thousand in something that looked like Bryne FC shirts - went mad.
At this point, Arsenal really understood that Rosenborg at Lerkendal was no walk over. Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and the familiar French faces from the TV, geared up and really started producing chances. But the RBK defence made heroic sacrifices and managed to stand firm, even tough it was hot: For example, a long toe from Mikael Dorsin was all that stopped his fellow countryman Ljungberg from putting the ball into an open goal.
Instead, Rosenborg came back for the last fifteen minutes. Storflor continued to play great, and at the same time, the right side of the team got more dangerous and got both free kicks and corner. Both setpieces were abused by an un-precise Winsnes.
As the game ran towards the end, the Englishmen were more dangerous, but it ended at 1-1.
"I am, honestly, somewhat disappointed. We had a good grip on Arsenal, to such a degree that we had earned two more points," Harald Brattbakk said just after the match.
"We played a marvellous game against one of Europe's very top teams. We chased a decisive goal in the end as well," Ola By Rise stated.
Match Details
ROSENBORG
1-1
Arsenal
Roar Strand 53
Fredrik Ljungberg 6
Wed Sep 29th 2004 20:45 Champions League, group stage, Lerkendal stadium
21 195 spectators
Rosenborg [4-3-3] Espen Johnsen - Christer Basma (Robbie Russell 73), Vidar Riseth, Erik Hoftun, Mikael Dorsin - Roar Strand (Christer George 64), Jan Gunnar Solli, Fredrik Winsnes - Harald Brattbakk (Daniel Braaten 82), Frode Johnsen, Øyvind Storflor
