Champions League and away matches is not a good combination for Rosenborg. With today's loss in Holland, the hope for E-cup during winter disappeared.

Before this match, RBK missed the trio Christer Basma, Vidar Riseth and Ørjan Berg. Halfway through the first half, Roar Strand got a leg injury and had to be replaced.

"When Roar left the pitch, we missed four International class players. That is noticeable," Ola By Rise says to Norwegian broadcaster TV3.

Still, PSV's winning goal after a mere ten minutes cannot be excused. Robbie Russell wasn't on watch when his fellow countryman DaMarcus Beasley was allowed to take down a 60 metres pass from captain Phipip Cocu and score, alone with Espen Johnsen.

"It was a skewed start. They played around us and behind us, and then we got a goal against. It got heavy," Øyvind Storflor stated.

The home team could, however, not follow-up the fine start. Instead, we saw an equal - and at times boring - game at the Philips Stadium.

PSV created the greatest chances - for themselves and for the opponent: Reserve keeper Edwin Zoetebier made RBK's two largest opportunities. First, he went outside the 16 metres field when Øyvind Storflor broke through, but he failed to clear off the ball. Instead, it went to Ståle Stensaas, who played in an unfamiliar left wing position. His pass was however horrible, and Frode Johnsen could never reach it.

Zoetebier continued to be a liability in the second half. Especially what he did with his feet was bad. Just before time, he couldn't stop a slow pass backwards; the ball rolled under his right foot, and had a nice direction towards the net. In slow-mo he - unfortunately - managed to turn back and clear it.

And that was the closest thing Rosenborg came to a goal.

"We did not lose faith, but we weren't quick enough, and did too many errors. That lost us the game," By Rise felt.

As Panathinaikos managed 1-1 in their away match against Arsenal, it seems hard for Rosenborg to steal the important 3rd place in the group. All in all, probably no E-cup during winter.

PS! This was the third one-goal-loss in the four Champions League matches this autumn.

Match Details

PSV Eindhoven	1-0	ROSENBORG
DaMarcus Beasley 10

Wednesday, Nov 2nd, 2004 20:45
Champions League, group stage, Philips Stadium, Eindhoven, Nederland
26 000 spectators

Rosenborg [4-3-3]
Espen Johnsen - Robbie Russell, Torjus Hansén, Erik Hoftun, Mikael Dorsin - Roar Strand (Christer George 30), Jan Gunnar Solli, Fredrik Winsnes - Øyvind Storflor (Thorstein Helstad 85), Frode Johnsen, Ståle Stensaas (Daniel Braaten 66)

Yellow card RBK: Erik Hoftun