Champions League News: Copenhagen win 1-0 on a close call against Rosenborg
Jesper Gronkjaer proved to be the talisman for Copenhagen in general as he helped his club clear the qualification stage of Champions League but he was not the only performer for his Danish club.
Solvi Ottesen proved to an impregnable wall for Rosenborg as he kept danger at bay and stopped continuous onslaughts of attacks by the Troillogan. However that was not the best part of his performance as the 26 year old defender, acquired just this summer produced the winner that took Byens Hold to the next level.
In the end Copenhagen qualified just barely as the aggregate was tallied 2-2 but the Danish club got through on scoring away goal.
A late header by Jesper Gronkjaer at Trondheim gave Copenhagen some hope of a come back in their 2-1 defeat in the first leg and then a header by Ottesen at Parken Copenhagen in the 33rd minute was enough to grasp the victory.
It was Solvi Ottesen who jumped the highest in the box to head the ball in the right place of the corner to get the 1-0 score which eventually remained till the end of the match.
Near to the end of the match the Norwegian football club noticed that they were down and brought on assault after assault of attacks but the Danes had prepared strongly for this and fended off each attack.
The Scandinavian rivals displayed attacks from both sides of the field but none of the teams were able to capitalize on their chances so ultimately the score line did remain 1-0. While both teams showed the creativity to make moves and attack, they both lacked a proper skillful finisher.
Had a finisher or an extra striker or a shadow striker been present in the teams a very different score line would be read as the dissipation and loss of ball and possession would be minimized.
The 25 year old midfielder for Loverne, Martin Vingaard managed to hit the goal posts twice and the Brazilian striker Cesar Santin utterly failed in scoring easy goals on two occasions. Another reason for the low score line was superb defending by players like Zdenek Pospech who also saved a certain goal by Daniel Orlund.
The 33 year old maestro Jesper Gronkjaer also fell to lack of finesse as he missed a shot from feet apart the penalty area. Nevertheless that happened to be the only mistake the former Atletico Madrid star made in the match. He eventually did over come that chance by producing many more goal scoring chances from the wing but no one had enough talent to score a goal from his corners.
Eventually the goal came from Ottesen as he headed on a long throw shirking all Rosenborg defenders on the way. It was an easy header in the end and Orlund had a very small chance of the strike therefore he failed in the end. At the moment of goal the Parken stadium erupted with joy and fans became ecstatic.
Rosenborg did have their chances to win the game and had it not been for their less attentiveness they would have been the victors at Parken. Rade Prica was twice on target but Copenhagen’s goal keeper Johan Wiland proved too good for him.
Copenhagen entered into the second half with a much more defensive approach and they were quite successful in pulling it off. Not only were they able to defend well but they slowed the tempo of the game and threw Rosenborg off guard when they attacked.
Rosenborg knew that the lone goal would prove big trouble for them but in the first half they did not impress by their plans to overcome the disadvantage. They lost the ball far too often for the midfield and therefore the possession of Copenhagen increased and the Norwegian club was unable to reverse strategize against the Danes.
As much as the first half was full of entertainment, so much the second half was full of anxiousness. There was a very close call for Copenhagen as the 40 year old midfielder Roar Strand attempted a stunner that was only stopped by the cross bar on top of posts.
Copenhagen have now proceeded to the next stage of Champions League while the only consolidation Rosenborg can now get is from trying to attain a position in Europa League.
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