Flo seals Vålerenga passage
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Article summary
FC Haka 1-4 Vålerenga IF (agg: 1-5) Tore André Flo scores twice as Kjetil Rekdal's side set up Club Brugge KV tie.
Article body
Early setback
Kjetil Rekdal's Vålerenga arrived in Finland with a narrow one-goal lead from a tight first leg, but that advantage lasted just nine minutes before Toni Lehtinen struck for the home side. However, parity was short-lived and when two goals in two minutes from Kjetil Wæhler and Flo killed the contest off just before the half-hour mark. Former Chelsea FC forward Flo again and Steffen Iversen added second-half strikes to seal an easy 4-1 win.
Quick-fire goals
Things had not looked quite so straightforward when 21-year-old striker Lehtinen gave Haka the lead early on. There had been little between the Scandinavian sides in the first leg and Vålerenga looked set for a stern test to their resolve. But Wæhler struck on 27 minutes, and with the away-goals rule, it left the home side needing to score twice.
Belgian test
But before they could regroup, Flo added another to all but end Haka's hopes. Another player that used to ply his trade in London, former Tottenham Hotspur FC striker Iversen added a third on the hour before Flo rounded off a comfortable victory on 74 minutes.
