Full Time Report, Champions League Play off: Rosenborg vs Copenhagen
Rosenborg took on Copenhagen in what appeared to be a clash of two Scandanavian heavy weights. This was because Rosenborg is a Norway based team where as Copenhagen is based in Denmark.
This clash between the two teams was the second time that the teams had managed to square off against each other. The last time these two teams met was in the 2008 UEFA Champions League. It was a group stage game that ended with the final score reading one all. That score resulted in the Norwegian based team Rosenborg being knocked out of the tournament.
Before the match got underway there was a sense of urgency and revenge in the Rosenborg home stadium, as the team looked set on settling the score from two years ago. It appeared as though Copenhagen were aware of this fact but didn't seem too worried. During the pre match line up it appeared as though both the teams had the same things on their minds and that the fans were about to witness a slug-fest, between two teams that were almost at the same form in their repective leagues.
As both teams were about to set on the field, the match appeared to be a derby game and not just a normal match. The fans that were in the stands could tell from the get go that they were going to get their money's worth tonight.
The teams for the game were as follows:
Rosenborg: D. Orlund, M. Lustig, K. Stadsgaard, V. Demidov, M. Dorsin, A. Annan, P. Skjelbred, M. Henriksen, S. Iversen, T. Olsen, R. Price
Copenhagen: J. Wiland, Z. Pospech, M. Zanka Jorgensen, M. Antonsson, O. Wendt, W. Kvist, T. Kristensen, Claudemir, M. Vingaard, D. N'Doye, J. Gronkjaer
The match finally got under way at the time it was scheduled to. Both teams looked to go at it from the first minute of the game. The ball was constantly traveling back and forth.
After five or so minutes of the ball being won and lost by both the teams, Rosenborg finally seemed to be getting the upper hand on their opponenets.
Copenhagen were will aware of this and on the seventh minute, Vingaard saw him self go into the book for a late tackle. The tackle wasn't intended to win the ball but it was the teams way of showing that they weren't going to be pushed around and that they meant business.
Roseborg weren't having any of this and instead of being suppressed by their opposition they went into an ultra offensive mode. The key player during the half for the team was their holding midfielder, Annan. He helped kill Copenhagen attacks constantly and sprung to launch attacks for the home side.
This finally paid of as half way through the first half Iversen scored for the home side. The match then continued with the tempo going down somewhat and the teams headed into the half time break with the score line reading, one goal to nil in Rosenborg's favor.
The second half got under way in the same fashion that the first half ended. The teams were unchanged for the second half as well and stayed the way they were at the end of the first. With both teams going toe to toe. Neither one of the two teams looked like they were going to let the other get to them.
This behavior usually results in teams picking up more bookings then they normally would and that is exactly what happened. Olsen went into the referees book for a late challenge, the forward was showing great intensity at the start of the second period and he eventually let that intensity get the better of him. However the hope fan's appreciated this act of dedication shown by the forward and started to boo the referee for booking him.
For the next ten minutes or so the match went into a stale mate, with both teams creating some opportunities but neither team capitalizing on either one of them.
Soon after the home advantage appeared to be getting behind the home team as they were being over whelmed by the support that the home fans were showing. This eventually led to Rosenborg edging past their opponents and grabbing another goal. This time however the goal came off another Rosenborg midfielder, Henriksen.
Soon after the second goal both teams looked to change things up. Rosenborg looked to get a little more defensive while Copenhagen were looking to apply some pressure.
The substitutions seemed to have favored Copenhagen more than the home team because they managed to pull a goal out of nothing. In the eighty fourth minute Gronkjaer struck for the Danish side and pulled one back for his team.
After the goal Copenhagen looked to apply the offense on Rosenborg who seemed more than content with their one goal advantage. However that surge near the end of the game didn't pay of as well as Copenhagen would have liked with the final score line reading, Two goals to one in Rosenborg's favor.
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