valencia scalp revitalises rosenborg published: thursday 25 october 2007, 0.53cet
rosenborg bk 2-0 valencia cf
second-half goals from yssouf koné and vidar riseth in trondheim revived the home side's hopes of progress.
by pål vikesland from lerkendal stadium
goals from yssouf koné and vidar riseth in an eight-minute spell early in the second half gave rosenborg bk a famous victory against valencia cf in trondheim and revived their challenge in uefa champions league group b.
first win after a first half of few chances, the norwegian side, who had picked up one point from their first two games, caught out their spanish visitors when koné fired in from close range eight minutes into the second half. three vital points were secured a minute past the hour when riseth headed past santiago cañizares to round off rosenborg's win and take the hosts second in the section before their trip to mestalla on matchday 4.
villa blow valencia had suffered a major blow going into the match with david villa failing to recover from an ankle injury, though coach quique sánchez flores had declared confidence in his team even without the spanish international. rosenborg's knut tørum, meanwhile, had signalled that the hosts would press valencia from the off, yet it was the primera división club who enjoyed the early possession. nonetheless, rosenborg stood firm in defence and their opponents failed to create clear chances apart from a fernando morientes shot that drifted wide.
skjelbred influence tørum's men gradually started to realise their pre-match ambitions and their first opportunity fell to koné, whose shot deflected over for a corner. this marked the beginning of a bright period for the tippeligaen outfit, with midfielder per ciljan skjelbred looking especially menacing with some piercing runs and the valencia rearguard facing danger from several directions. sánchez flores's charges slowly regained a foothold, though, and came close on 18 minutes; luis miguel being unable to pick out morientes in the area and goalkeeper lars hirschfeld snuffing out the threat.
corner threat rosenborg were soon on top again with marek sapara's corners causing problems. koné again hinted at a breakthrough after good work involving alexander tettey and mikael dorsin, yet the striker's shot nestled in the side-netting. then, as half-time approached, the ebb and flow favoured valencia who suddenly looked sharper without unduly troubling a disciplined rosenborg back line.
koné breakthrough that renewed sense of purpose continued into the initial stages of the second half. joaquín found himself one-on-one with hirschfeld three minutes after the restart, forcing the keeper to make an excellent stop. this proved crucial as, five minutes later, the deadlock was broken. rosenborg left-back dorsin made his way into the box and found koné with a clever pass. the no7 turned quickly and his strike had just enough power to beat cañizares despite the custodian's despairing lunge.
riseth delight sapara's set-pieces had threatened to unlock valencia all evening and, on 61 minutes, one of the midfielder's corners eventually reached riseth in the area for the defender to double the advantage with a well-placed close-range header. valencia struggled for a way back into the match, and although substitute nikola Žigić glanced a late header just wide of the far post, the locals held on for a welcome success.
