Rosenborg wins the 1st leg

Solvi Ottesen and Cesar Santin were deemed too risky to start in Ståle Solbakken’s first XI for Copenhagen’s crucial away trip to Rosenborg, in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

 

These omissions gave Mathias Zanka the opportunity to retain his partnership with Mikael Antonsson at the back, while Jesper Grønkjær was handed a place up front with in-form striker Dame N’Doye.

 

By Joe Short

The opening phases of the match proved just how much this tie meant to both clubs, with the two sides cancelling each other out in the middle of the park. Indeed, the scrappy start was epitomised by Martin Vingaard, who collected a potentially problematic booking just five minutes in.

 

It was Rosenborg who eventually got the ball down and started playing with it, culminating in a bunch of half chances that were no trouble for Johan Wiland in the FCK goal. Kristensen also had to come to the defence’s rescue after a quarter of an hour, blocking a drilled effort from Anthony Annan.

 

The one-way flow of pressure finally paid off for the home side, as they took the lead on 22 minutes. A pass into the FCK box was flicked up by Rade Prica to Markus Henriksen on the edge, who headed into the path of the lurking Steffen Iversen. Stood in between the Copenhagen defence, Iversen blasted the ball home on the volley before anyone could react.

 

The home pressure continued after the goal, but with little results as FCK defended doggedly, culminating in Grønkjær being smashed in the face by a flaying arm on the half hour mark. With blood gushing from his nose, the striker was forced to leave the field. In the time that followed, the Lions clawed their way back into the game with a first effort of their own.

 

After Grønkjær’s return, the away side began to play more positively, often spreading the play wide to full backs in space to attack. This tactic almost created a goal as Pospech delivered a deflected cross from the right, but Claudemir could only head wide.

 

The pressure grew and FCK looked sure for a goal themselves; the best chances both falling to N’Doye who missed one-on-one opportunities when a cooler head was needed. His first was created on 37 minutes as the striker found a gap in the Rosenborg defence to run through, but could only hit the onrushing Daniel Örlund. His second came just one minute later as both he and Claudemir ran free of the back line: the Brazilian laying off for the Senegalese to sky over the bar.

 

At the other end, Wiland had to be quick to punch clear a dangerous cross, smashing into Vadim Demidov in the process, just before the break.

 

The second half started with Rosenborg in much of the possession. However it was FCK who looked most likely to score. Grønkjær ran through on 55 minutes, but could not make the most of the time and space that he had, scuffing his shot far wide of the goalmouth.

 

Two minutes later and the striker were made to rue his missed opportunity, as the Norwegians added another to their tally. Annan drilled a misguided shot into a group of players, only for the ball to deflect off Henriksen and dribble into the far corner of the net: Wiland scrambling to reach it.

 

Again F.C. Copenhagen staged a comeback, but a penalty claim from Claudemir after the midfielder’s effort had been blocked in the area was waved away by the referee. And, while the away side was still fuming about their lack of a penalty, Rosenborg almost sealed the match were it not for Wiland, who superbly tipped over a curling effort from Iversen.

 

It was clear the Danish champions needed to re-structure themselves, and when Zanka was forced to make a last-ditch clearance off the goal line, Solbakken brought on the subs: Martin Bergvold and Hjalte Nørregaard coming on for Martin Vingaard and Thomas Kristensen respectively.

 

After this came a prolonged 10-minute spell of FCK dominance, as the side pushed forward looking for the crucial away goal to take back to PARKEN. Grønkjær had a shot almost spilled into the keeper’s own net; while William Kvist made the most of the little space he had on the edge of the area to force Örlund into a flying save.

 

And yet, with nine minutes to go, Rosenborg should have made it three. Prica collected the ball on the counter attack and shot past the pressing Wiland. As the ball tantalisingly trickled towards the line, Bakenga ran through to shepherd it in to the back of the net. However, the ball struck the base of the post, only to roll back into the box, where William Kvist could clear it.

 

This stroke of luck was all FCK needed, as they immediately counter attacked and soon won a corner. The resulting kick was deftly flicked on by Grønkjær to nestle in the far corner of the net to secure a critical away goal for the Lions: Rosenborg conceding their first goal of their Champions League campaign.

 

In the closing stages both teams seemed happy with their spoils, but Wiland again had to be on his toes in the last seconds, as a Mikael Lustig header from a corner forced the keeper to react quickly and tip over the bar.

 

There was no more time to restart the game, and so both sides ended feeling they probably have done enough to progress in PARKEN on Wednesday.