Rosenborg - Brann 1-3
By Håvard Lindheim, 10 November 2006, 10:01
The wild celebration of the championship seems to be stuck in the players' bodies.
Huseklepp gave Iversen problems.
Photo: Royal League/Scanpix
The match looked the same as the disappointing 1-1 show in Fredrikstad: After an early Rosenborg score, the opponent was given the match for their own. This time, Øyvind Storflor did a great shot after a nice piece of work by Karim Essediri.
"The opening minutes were very promising, but as the match went by we lost pressure and allowed Brann to excel," Knut Tørum stated.
Especially the central line failed. As an example, Vidar Riseth let go of his man when Armann Björnsson shortly thereafter made an equalizer on a corner kick.
"I have praised the leaders in this team this autumn, but today, they performed bad - all of them. Miika Koppinen, Vidar Riseth and Steffen Iversen are merely shadows of themselves, and mostly stood watching. The factors that have been the key to our success were totally absent today," Tørum thundered.
Alexander Lund Hansen made his home debut, replacing Lars Hirschfeld that had some back problems. He got a mental blow when Brann took the lead: A high free kick from Erik Huseklepp hit the ground and rolled between the legs of the RBK goalkeeper.
"I feel that I, in a way, destroy the match for us when we get that goal in our net. It shall not happen ... but it does," a sad Lund Hansen said.
Worse to come. On added time before the break, Vidar Riseth got his second yellow card after having being fouled by Petter Vaagan Moen. Things looked bad, mildly put, before the second half.
RBK weren't able to improve, either - in spite of a couple of chances. Instead, Lund Hansen had to step up. He held Rosenborg in the game with a number of fine saves, before finally having to give up on a Kristian Ystaas shot from point blank.
"That one goal was a terrible mistake, but there were many high quality saves thereafter. Good things and bad things. It wasn't Alex's fault that we lost today. Numerous others did errors, and he had a weak defense in front. Alex saved his team mates from a more humiliating loss," Knut Tørum stated.
PS 1! Roar Strand had a cold, went out of energy, and had to give in before half time.
PS 2! Both teams warmed up on the training field to spare the stadion's muddy grass pit before the match.
Match Details
ROSENBORG
1-3
Brann
Øyvind Storflor 4
Armann Björnsson 11
Erik Huseklepp 33
Kristian Ystaas 83
Thursday 9 November 2006 19:30 Royal League, Lerkendal stadium
Attendance: 5755
Rosenborg [4-3-3] Alexander Lund Hansen - Roar Strand (Bjørn Tore Kvarme 42), Christer Basma, Miika Koppinen, Mikael Dorsin - Marek Sapara, Vidar Riseth, Aleksander Tettey - Karim Essediri (Daniel Braaten 64), Steffen Iversen, Øyvind Storflor (Per Ciljan Skjelbred 46)
Yellow card RBK: Alexander Tettey, Bjørn Tore Kvarme
Red card RBK: Vidar Riseth (45)
