Rosenborg - Zenit St. Petersburg 0-2
By Håvard Lindheim, 16 Februar 2006, 09:11
The season saw a terrible start against lethally effective Russians on a winter-clad Lerkendal.
FEW OPTIONS: Dorsin and Storflor didn't have a great day against pyrotcehnically inclined Russians..
Photo: Thomas Myren
Before the game, Rosenborg were very optimistic in spite of all the injuries and the sickness the squad has seen the past few weeks. Per-Mathias Høgmo wanted to make the very best out of the situation, and let for instance Alexander Tettey play his very first game from the start.
"It was an acceptable debut from the start in an e-cup game. He did a fair match, but spent too long time with the ball. Hence, we replaced him with Ørjan Berg at half time," Høgmo explained.
Before that, much had happened at Lerkendal. After merely six minutes, Daniel Braaten was played through, but - alone with Zenit keeper Kamil Contofalsky, he unfortunately hit the goalkeeper, not the goal.
Thereafter, Andrei Arshavin was placed in the same position, as Bjørn Tore Kvarme and Vidar Riseth gave him too much time and space. The Russian hammered away a precise ball that secured an 1-0 lead.
"Beto was tricked out, while Vidar was trailing behind," Høgmo observed.
Then, RBK was given the chance to equalize: Braaten was fouled in the 16, and Frode Johnsen was given the penalty shot. But, for the 13th time in 18 tries since 2004, RBK failed: the keeper managed to fist the ball into the crossbar and out.
In many ways, this was the negative turning point for Rosenborg during the game. Shortly thereafter, Johnsen's namesake did a mistake: Espen received a pass back from Jan Gunnar Solli, and kicked the ball neatly - into the body of Aleksandr Kerzhakov - making it bounce back into his own goal. A disaster if there ever was any.
"Two factors went wrong. I got the ball on the wrong foot (the left) as an opponent approached me. Both a wrong choice and a bad hit. I should have kicked it out over the line," Johnsen admitted.
The second half in many ways became an anticlimax. Zenit pulled back to defend the lead, while the RBK heads hung lower and lower in the bitter winter weather with snow and heavy wind. We saw no more great chances, and the home team didn't manage to make a better result in front of the second leg in Russia next week.
PS 1! The match was stopped for two minutes when the Zenit supporters celebrated the 0-1 goal by bombarding the pitch with bengal fires.
PS 2! Helstad, Skjelbred, Brattbakk and Russel are all still injured.
Match Details
ROSENBORG
0-2
Zenit St. Petersburg
Andrei Arshavin 22
Aleksandr Kerzhakov 32
Wednesday 15 February 2006 19:30 UEFA-cup, 3rd round, Lerkendal stadion
Attendance: 11 082
Rosenborg [4-3-3] Espen Johnsen - Christer Basma, Bjørn Tore Kvarme, Vidar Riseth, Mikael Dorsin - Roar Strand, Alexander Tettey (Ørjan Berg 46), Jan Gunnar Solli (Ståle Stensaas 82) - Daniel Braaten, Frode Johnsen, Øyvind Storflor (Yssouf Kone 66)
