Rosenborg hold off Tampere threat

Rosenborg BK will make their eleventh appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage after brushing aside the challenge of Finnish champions Tampere United in Trondheim and consigning their opponents to a place in the UEFA Cup.

Rosenborg return
With a 3-0 advantage from the first leg of this third qualifying round tie Rosenborg were always the likelier winners of the two Scandinavian sides and goals in either half from Marek Sapara and Didier Konan Ya sealed a return to the competition proper after a year's absence in 2006/07.

Power cut
After a 55-minute delay in the kick-off due to a power failure, a cautious opening resulted in both sides finding goalscoring opportunities hard to come by and it was not until the 39th minute the first real chance of the game arrived. It was no surprise it fell to Rosenborg but given his exploits in scoring twice in the first leg and four times in the second qualifying round win against FC Astana, perhaps Yssouf Kone's header wide was unexpected.

Sapara stunner
Tampere, conquerors of PFC Levski Sofia in the last round, came back with an opening of their own and Rosenborg goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld did well to save Mathias Lindström's header from close range. But on the stroke of half-time it was the Norwegian title winners who got the first goal of the night when a misplaced pass fell to Sapara, giving the Slovakian international the chance to thunder the ball into the net from just outside the penalty area.

Impressive form
The final nail in the Tampere coffin then arrived four minutes into the second half as Ya cut in from the right before placing the ball into the top corner past a helpless Mikko Kavén. It was Rosenborg's 15th goal of an impressive four-game qualifying campaign and meant the home side were able to play out the remainder of the match untroubled and dream of the big names that may await in Thursday's draw.