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UEFA Champions League: Outstanding Johnsen sinks Olympiakos [Tue Sep 13th, 2005]
Athens (Reuters) - A superb goalkeeping display from Espen Johnsen and a freak own goal helped Rosenborg Trondheim beat Olympiakos 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League.
The Greek champions went ahead in the 19th minute of the Group F match when defender Alejandro Lago headed through his own net.
Rosenborg equalised three minutes before half-time when Orjan Berg's neatly threaded pass found Per Ciljan Skjelbred who tucked the ball past Antonis Nikopolidis.
The Norwegian side took the lead three minutes into the second half in a comedy of error and misunderstanding in the Olympiakos penalty area. Nikopolidis flapped the ball off his goalline on to the knee of Dimitris Mavrogenidis and into the net.
Olympiakos promptly threw everything at Rosenborg in search of an equaliser.
But a series of outstanding saves from Johnsen - including one to stop a looping Rivaldo header into the top corner and two at full stretch to deny Michalis Konstantinou - kept them in front.
Oyvind Storflor then sealed the points in the dying seconds with Rosenborg's third.
Paying tribute to his keeper, Rosenborg coach Per-Mathias Hogmo said: "His performance was excellent. It was international standard.
"We deserved to win," he added. "The midfield worked really well and the defence also had an excellent night. If we get our psychology right then we will do fine in the Champions League."
There was little consolation for Trond Sollied, a former Rosenborg player and coach who is now manager of the Greek side.
"It was very frustrating for us," said Sollied. "I have seen Johnsen play like this before - for Norway against Spain. His performance tonight was terrific.
"I was satisfied with our second half performance," he said. "Olympiakos dominated the whole match - we just missed a lot of chances. And football is judged by the results."
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