Rosenborg ended their UEFA Champions League home hoodoo with a stunning 2-0 win over Valencia.
Kone and Riseth shock Spaniards
Rosenborg ended their UEFA Champions League home hoodoo with a stunning 2-0 win over Valencia.
The Norwegians had gone six years without winning on home turf in the group phase, but had too much enthusiasm for their lacklustre opponents.
Yssouf Kone opened the scoring eight minutes into the second half and Vidar Riseth capped a memorable night for the club with a second goal on 61 minutes.
Rosenborg enjoyed the better of a first half in which the Norwegians' verve and vigour at times threatened to embarrass an insipid Valencia side.
Kone's early volley deflected over after a poor clearance before Alexander Tettey's rasping drive, following a powerful run from Per Ciljan Skelbred, clipped a Valencia defender and went wide.
Kone's header was easily saved by Santiago Canizares after the Rosenborg striker had to settle for a corner when failing to gather in Mikael Dorsin's incisive pass.
Urgency
Valencia struggled to muster a cohesive move, with David Albelda lazily driving wide from 25 yards before Rosenborg reminded the visitors of the urgency required to win a game.
Steffen Iversen headed a Skjelbred cross wide before Kone twice came close, volleying wide and then turning his shot into the side-netting after being picked out at the far post.
Skjelbred saw a low attempt stopped by Canizares before Valencia stirred towards half-time only for Jaime Gavilan to skew his shot wide after a neat one-two with Fernando Morientes.
The Spaniards displayed a greater sense of purpose early in the second period with Joaquin forcing a superb reflex save out of Lars Hirschfeld after exchanging passes with David Silva.
Deserved
But Rosenborg nabbed the goal their play merited on 53 minutes and the home side also deserved their slice of luck.
A barnstorming run down the left flank by Dorsin saw the defender pull the ball back to Kone, whose first touch came back off an opponent before he struck a low shot which Canizares' outstretched leg could not prevent from crossing the line.
Better was to come for Rosenborg on 61 minutes in the guise of a second goal from the evergreen Riseth.
A Rosenborg corner saw Valencia's Carlos Marchena make a poor attempt to clear and as the ball looped into the air, Riseth was on hand to nod home from close range.
Valencia threw on attack-minded substitutes, but it was Rosenborg who could have scored again when Iversen shot straight at Canizares after being teed up by Abdou Razack Traore.
The visitors did have a chance late on when substitute Nikola Zigic headed wide, but Rosenborg were full value for the win.
| Rosenborg |
Team Statistics |
Valencia |
| 2 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 9 |
Corners |
2 |
| 18 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 79 |
Passing Success |
84.4 |
| 27 |
Tackles |
21 |
| 74.1 |
Tackles Success |
66.7 |
| 39.4 |
Possession |
60.6 |
| 44.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
55.2 |
|
