Rosenborg (1) 1 -
Alavés (1) 3
Alavés:
Herrera; Contra, Eggen, Téllez, Geli; Astudillo, Desio, Jordi Cruyff,
Tomic; Iván Alonso (Magno 67'), Vucko (Javi Moreno 60'). 4-4-2.
Goals: 0-1. 20. Johnsen
(own goal). Ran cross from Contra past his own keeper. 0-2. 37. Vucko.
Brought ball in from left wing and shot around Arason. 0-3. 62. Javi
Moreno. Took through ball from Astudillo and beat keeper. 1-3. 89.
Skammelsrud (penalty). After Astudillo pulled forward down in box.
Alavés recorded a
brilliant victory against Champions League side Rosenborg in Norway, winning by
two clear goals to advance through to the next round of the competition. With
the first leg level at 1-1 and with the away goal to boot, Rosenborg were
favourites, despite being short of match practise given that their league had
finished a month or so ago. But Alavés have come through the two
previous rounds of the tournament thanks to wins away from home, and they
arrived at Trondheim full of confidence. Needing to score, Mané put out
an aggressive team, including Jordi Cruyff in a four man midfield with
Iván Alonso and Vucko up front.
The Croatian was making his
first start for his new side in place of Javi Moreno, who was rested for the
weekend league match, and he confirmed his manager's confidence with a great
goal near the end of the first half, picking the ball up in his own half and
holding off defenders before shooting past South African keeper Arason. Earlier
Alavés had taken the lead against the run of play, Bent Johnsen
mishitting a clearance past his own keeper from Contra's cross. Rosenborg had
several chances in the first half but were off target, and any hopes they had
left were dashed when Javi Moreno came on for the injured Vucko with half an
hour to go and immediately established a three goal lead.
When Skammelsrud finally got
Rosenborg's consolation goal from the penalty spot in the last minute, most of
the crowd had gone, not being prepared to hang around in sub-zero temperatures
to watch their side lose. This was in fact the first time that the Norwegians
had been beaten in the Lerkendal stadium in European competitions this year,
and it hurt. The pink shirts of Euro-Alavés march on in their first ever
campaign in Europe, and together with Rayo Vallecano they are the surprise of
the competition so far. Each round gets harder, but with this type of fighting
spirit, they may go a long way. On Wednesday night, they will know who they
have to beat to do so. |