Chelsea held by minnows
Rosenborg
Andriy Shevchenko celebrates his equaliser for
Chelsea
Chelsea 1-1 Rosenborg
Chelsea's stuttering start to the season continued as they were
held to a shock draw by Norwegian underdogs Rosenborg in the
Champions League. Rosenborg threatened to spring a surprise when
Miika Koppinen turned in Marek Sapara's free-kick at the near post
in the 24th minute.
Andriy Shevchenko headed Chelsea level eight minutes after the
interval. Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou hit the woodwork for
Chelsea, but resilient Rosenborg held out to force a draw. And
perhaps even more worrying for coach Jose Mourinho was a crowd of
only 24,973 at Stamford Bridge, including a distinctly unimpressed
owner Roman Abramovich - a miserable turn-out for a Champions
League game.
Chelsea were still without their main goal threats in injured duo
Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba - and it showed in a lacklustre
first 45 minutes. Michael Essien wasted a good chance by shooting
wide before Rosenborg took a shock lead after 24 minutes. Sapara's
dangerous free-kick from the left flank was met with a perfect
flick from Koppinen at the near post that left Chelsea keeper Petr
Cech helpless.
Chelsea responded as expected, but they lacked both inspiration and
a cutting edge in the opening exchanges. Alex headed wide, and both
Kalou and Shevchenko were narrowly off target as Chelsea started to
mount a threat as the interval approached.
Former Liverpool defender Bjorn Tore Kvarme entered the action at
the re-start, the 35-year-old coming on for the injured Christer
Basma. Rosenborg wasted a glorious opportunity to double their
advantage after 51 minutes when Yssouf Kone set up Alexander
Tettey, but he blazed wastefully over the top from 12 yards.
Chelsea needed a goal desperately - as did misfiring striker
Shevchenko - and the Ukrainian striker obliged with the equaliser
seconds later, heading Malouda's cross beyond Lars Hirschfelfd.
Malouda then rattled the post as Chelsea showed real urgency
against their underdog opponents.
Rosenborg were now having to defend courageously, and keeper
Hirchsfeld did well to block Juliano Belletti. Chelsea made a
double switch with 17 minutes left, sending on Tal Ben Haim and
Shaun Wright-Phillips for Ashley Cole and Joe Cole. And Kalou was
the latest to be denied by the woodwork as Rosenborg held on. It
meant an attacking role for captain John Terry as Chelsea switched
to a three-man defence.
Chelsea spent the latter stages camped out in Rosenborg's half, but
a combination of good fortune, safe handling from Hirschfeld and
stout defending kept Mourinho's side at bay.
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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho:
"Of course I am alarmed. I am not happy. "We cannot score goals and
secondly I have no good news from the medical department. So I have
to fight with these players to make the team the best possible. "I
am disappointed but the history of the game was simple - we had 20
chances and scored one goal. So maybe we need 40 chances to score
two and 60 to score three. "Our 20 chances were not enough to score
two goals. It is not my strikers, it is my team. "My team played
against a team that in my opinion did its game. Like smaller teams
do when they visit the better teams, they come here to defend and
are organised."
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Chelsea: Cech, Belletti, Terry, Alex, Ashley Cole (Ben-Haim 73),
Joe Cole (Wright-Phillips 74), Makelele, Essien, Malouda,
Shevchenko, Kalou.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Sidwell, Obi, Ferreira, Sawyer.
Booked: Alex.
Goals: Shevchenko 53.
Rosenborg: Hirschfeld, Koppinen, Basma (Kvarme 46), Dorsin, Strand,
Riseth, Skjelbred (Iversen 84), Tettey, Sapara (Konan 69), Traore,
Kone.
Subs Not Used: Hansen, Stoor, Lago, Nordvik.
Booked: Dorsin, Kone.
Goals: Koppinen 24.
Att: 24,973
Ref: Laurent Duhamel (France).
