Chelsea all but ensured their place in the last four of the European Cup Winners' Cup last night, a goal by Dennis Wise five minutes from time completing a comfortable margin for the holders to take with them across the North Sea in a fortnight's time.
Chelsea got off to a flying start, going ahead after only 10 minutes. Gianfranco Zola fed the ball out to Celestine Babayaro on the left of the area and the Nigerian winger unloaded a shot which squeezed in between the post and goalkeeper. Despite the Oslo side's 4-5-1 rearguard tactics, Chelsea found routes to goal easy to come by right from the kick-off. Zola's ball across the face of the Valerenga goal just eluded Graeme Le Saux on the back post after six minutes, and Roberto Di Matteo then headed wide.
Immediately after the opening goal Chelsea went even closer to scoring. The visiting goalkeeper Mikko Kaven flapped at Le Saux's cross and Gianluca Vialli, who had picked himself in the starting line-up rather than his very own Norwegian Tore Andre Flo, saw a goal-bound shot deflected wide.
The player-manager then watched incredulously as another on-target drive was cleared off the line by Joachim Waltin. Valerenga's best riposte to that point was a shot over the bar from the giant teenaged striker John Carew. The pre-match assertion from Valerenga's manager Egil Olsen that Vialli had not done much with the vast playing resources at his disposal was a piece of kidology which was about as subtle as Olsen's route-one tactics.
It was also about as sensitive as the behaviour of the 4,000 Norwegians in the ground who, contrary to that country's reputation as having quiet, unassuming people, met the announcement of Chelsea's players' names and requests to sit down with derisive whistles and lewd hand gestures. Obviously they watch too much Premiership football on television back home.
Enough, presumably, to know about the qualities of Chelsea, who extended their lead on the half-hour. A great through-ball from Babayaro picked out Zola in the area, and the little Italian emphasised his recent intoxicating form by magically rounding the defender Hai Ngoc Tran and slotting the ball past the advancing goalkeeper.
Chelsea were able to welcome back Wise after suspension but were missing the injured Frank LeBoeuf. At half-time Zola also bowed out, to be replaced by Flo. At least that gave Chelsea some height against the basketball players masquerading as Valerenga's central defenders, who were at least 6ft 5in tall.
It took Chelsea just four minutes of the new half to cut the pair down to size as Vialli fed Di Matteo on the right of the area and the Italian unleashed a shot which the goalkeeper saved. From the corner Vialli fired just wide and two minutes later Dan Petrescu's header followed the same trajectory. Chelsea's quality in every area of the pitch, especially their movement and invention going forward, was proving too much for the Norwegian part-timers who prior to last night had managed to win just two out of 22 games in Europe.
Their overstaffed midfield did its best to support the lone striker Carew on the rare occasions Valerenga broke forward, but it was no surprise when, on 58 minutes, Olsen brought on a second striker, Kjell Roar Kaasa, as he searched for the partial comfort of an away goal.
But Chelsea's attacking threat remained the greater. A Le Saux one-two with Vialli ended with the Valerenga goalkeeper sprinting from his line to block the England fullback's shot and shortly afterwards Vialli's nod-down set up Di Matteo for a 20-yard shot which whizzed just wide.
Chelsea: De Goey, Ferrer, Lambourde, Desailly, Le Saux, Petrescu, Wise, Di Matteo, Babayaro, Vialli, Zola (Flo 45). Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Myers, Nicholls, Newton, Morris, Terry. Booked: Petrescu. Goals: Babayaro 10, Zola 30, Wise 85.
Valerenga: Kaven, Berntsen, Haraldsen, Kjoelner, Tran, Walltin, Riisnaes, Levernes (Simpson 85), Hovi, Haug (Kaasa 58), Carew. Subs Not Used: Bolthof, Karlsen, Musaeus, Oedegaard, Thorsten. Booked: Walltin, Tran.
Referee: G Benko (Austria).
