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Høgmo delight at Rosenborg point

Rosenborg BK coach Per-Mathias Høgmo was adamant that his team deserved to win after claiming a late draw against Olympiacos CFP.

Rosenborg BK clinched a UEFA Cup place thanks to a goal from Thorstein Helstad two minutes from time earned them the draw they needed against Olympiacos CFP in Trondheim. The visitors were on course for their first three-point haul of the campaign after Rivaldo put them in front on 25 minutes but, to the delight of coach Per-Mathias Høgmo, Rosenborg battled back and Helstad scored just after Vidar Riseth had missed a penalty. Anastasios Pantos was sent off.

Per-Mathias Høgmo, Rosenborg coach
I think we deserved to win. In the first half we were a bit affected by the injury to Per [Ciljan Skjelbred] and when Roar [Strand] got injured too we lost some of our running capacity. It was also evident that we hadn't played in three weeks. But we still created ten or 15 chances, but just like against Real Madrid [CF] we couldn't succeed in converting them to goals. We changed some things in the second half which improved our play significantly. One thing I can say is that Riseth has taken his last penalty, but I want to give him credit for taking responsibility in a pressure situation. As for the UEFA Cup, it is still some way away. First we have to play well against [Olympique] Lyon[nais] and get some more experience on the European stage. I will also try some new players out because of the injuries we have now.

Trond Sollied, Olympiacos coach
I am very disappointed but this is not a good time to get emotional, we have to let it sink in. Football is a game about the moment but we will have other chances and have to move on. In the second half Rosenborg changed the character of the game by starting to play long balls into the box and both of their full-backs created trouble for us. Then when they were awarded the penalty and Pantos was sent-off it changed the match completely. Maybe the fear of losing is greater than our will to win, but I feel that without the penalty incident we would have won. We're not as far away from the top as I previously thought. There are many things to work on though and we will do that in the future.