Mistakes costly for Cork once again as ruthless Rosenborg run riot
ROSENBORG 3 CORK CITY 0 ROSENBORG WIN 5-0 ON AGGREGATE
THE impossible job proved to be just that as Cork City’s mistakes once again saw them undone in Europe.
Going into their Europa League third qualifying round tie 2-0 down from last week’s game in Turner’s Cross, this was always going to be a tall order for the champions and the concession of two goals in the first half ended any lingering hopes they might have had of causing a turnaround.
To have a chance, Cork needed to hit their hosts early to put some doubt in their minds and while they did push in the early stages, it was a similar story to the first leg and the Champions League exit against Legia Warsaw.
In front of a crowd of 8,028, there were half-chances in the opening exchanges for Cork, but Jimmy Keohane and Karl Sheppard had weak efforts which Andre Hansen in the Rosenborg goal was equal to.
With their two away goals from the first leg, Rosenborg were able to sit back and hit Cork when the opportunity presented itself.
While Shane Griffin got the better of last week’s match-winner Jonathan Levi in a pair of early challenges, Alexander Soderlund was always a dangerous presence at the apex of the Norwegian champions’ attack, with Anders Trondsen the driving force from midfield, though he did pick up a booking as he illegally halted an early Gearóid Morrissey counterattack.
Morrissey was one of two changes made by John Caulfield, coming in for Barry McNamee as Kieran Sadlier replaced the injured Graham Cummins.
Sadlier had a few moments on the left flank as Cork took the game to Rosenborg while Karl Sheppard – playing as the central striker – benefited from good play by Steven Beattie and Garry Buckley to find possession on the right of the box.
He whipped the ball across but nobody had taken a gamble and it went out for a Rosenborg throw-in.
Rosenborg right-back Vegar Hedenstad had a quickly-taken free-kick which went wide in the 25th minute and just moments later he would be involved in the opening goal.
When a free-kick by Soderlund wasn’t fully cleared, Hedenstad retrieved possession and fed Mike Jensen, who crossed from the right.
Goalkeeper Mark McNulty went for the ball but could only f lap and it fell perfectly for Bosnian defender Besim Serbecic, who fired a shot through the gang of bodies and into the net.
Sheppard did have a shot in response but Hansen saved and Rosenborg doubled their lead 10 minutes before half-time.
Unsurprisingly, the tireless Trondsen was at the heart of it with a surging run which carried him into the penalty area before squaring for Soderlund to finish from point-blank range.
Trondsen could have made it three before half-time but Cork survived until the break, with McNamee introduced instead of Morrissey for the second half.
However, the f low of the game couldn’t be reversed and Rosenborg left-back Birger Meling, excellent over both legs, almost set up Levi for what would have been his third goal of the tie, but a bobbling shot wasn’t awkward for McNulty.
The third goal had an inevitability about it and it came on the hour mark.
Naturally, Trondsen was integral to it as yet another forward run yielded dividends, dummying to allowing Soderlund an easy pass into his path, with an emphatic finish beyond McNulty.
At the stage, the small band of travelling supporters might have been fearing the worst, but there was at least the consolation that there would be no more goals allowed.
One at the other end would have softened the blow somewhat, and with 20 minutes remaining it nearly came.
When Sadlier’s shot was half-blocked, Buckley had time to pick his spot and was unlucky that the ball came back off the crossbar. It fell to Keohane but a wonderful save from Hansen denied him.
Rosenborg had other chances, but they didn’t need them and they now move on to next week’s play-offs.
ROSENBORG – Hansen; Hedenstad (Reitan 74), Serbecic, Reginiussen, Meling; Lundemo, Trondsen; Levi, Jensen, Bendtner; Soderlund.
CORK CITY – McNulty; Beattie, Delaney, McLoughlin, Griffin; McCormack, Morrissey (McNamee h-t); Keohane, Buckley (Dunleavy 74) Sadlier; Sheppard (Coughlan 72).
REF – Mads-Kristoffer Kristoffersen (Denmark).