Chelsea displayed all of the wily European experience garnered by their
player-manager Gianluca Vialli as they virtually booked their place in the Cup
Winners' Cup semi-finals at Stamford Bridge against Valerenga.
Faced with a massed defensive wall of Norwegian giants, cup holders Chelsea
simply passed their opponents to death.
Secure at the back, patient in their build-up and full of movement up front,
the Blues toyed with the Norwegian side before pouncing to deadly effect
through Celestine Babayaro and Gianfranco Zola to establish a 2-0 half-time
advantage.
Dennis Wise's late strike in a rare guest appearance in the side amid a rash
of domestic suspensions was the final nail in the Valerenga coffin to leave
Chelsea with a seemingly straightforward task in the second leg of the
quarter-final tie in Oslo.
And so Chelsea succeeded against Valerenga coach Egil Olsen where Graham
Taylor, Terry Venables and Brazil have all failed.
For during his time in charge of the Norway national side, Olsen embarrassed
Taylor by defeating England 2-0 to secure their own place in the 1994 World Cup
finals.
Even Venables' England side were unable to beat the massed ranks of his
long-ball team, while Brazil were twice the victims of the Norwegian
counter-attack.
For although Chelsea's European opponents were hardly in the class even of
Inter Milan, it is never easy to prove the obvious gap in technical ability
against a team determined to pack 10 men in defence and leave a lone striker up
front.
However, Chelsea had clearly learned from two chastening experiences earlier
this season, when they had struggled to beat Helsingborg, of Sweden, 1-0 and to
draw 1-1 against Copenhagen before prevailing narrowly in the away legs.
This time, they not only showed patience and control but also style and
considerable intelligence and guile.
Vialli, who recalled himself in place of Norway's Tore Andre Flo, was full of
running and movement up front alongside the effervescent Gianfranco Zola.
In midfield, Dennis Wise and Roberto Di Matteo exerted control while in
defence, Marcel Desailly and Bernard Lambourde - in for the injured Frank
Leboeuf - were rock solid.
And just like Manchester United the night before against Inter Milan, Chelsea
seized an early advantage after just 10 minutes.
Valerenga had pushed men up front for a free-kick but Lambourde led the
counter-attack out of defence, with passes smoothly switching between Vialli and
Wise before Zola was left poised on the edge of the penalty area.
He had the vision to spot Babayaro in space to his left, slotted an
inch-perfect sideways pass and the Nigerian made no mistake from a tight angle.
The goal clearly rocked Valerenga and Vialli first had a shot blocked and then
saw another effort cleared off the line by Joachim Waltin after Desailly's
header had reached him as they pressed home their advantage.
The Norwegians were restricted to occasional breaks but John Carew, their
19-year-old prodigy being courted by many of Europe's leading clubs, was largely
isolated.
He did manage one long-range shot over the bar, was tackled by Wise as he took
aim a second time and also shaved the upright with a third effort.
But Chelsea were dominating possession with their measured build-up play and
that was rewarded on 29 minutes when Zola put them 2-0 up.
Babayaro was this time the creator, sending Zola clear through the middle to
hold off his marker and slot his shot past keeper Mikko Kaven, but great credit
also went to Vialli's decoy run which pulled the defence apart.
Chelsea still had a close escape on the brink of half-time, with Babayaro
blocking a powerful drive by captain Fredrik Kjolner with his chest just in
front of the goal-line after a weak clearance from a corner.
At the break, the Blues replaced Zola with Flo but although they inevitably
missed the Italian's creativity, they was still a gulf in class between the two
sides despite the raucous encouragement of their travelling fans.
Vialli lobbed a ball through for Di Matteo, who beat the offside trap only to
see his shot deflected wide by keeper Kaven, the player-boss volleyed just wide
and Dan Petrescu placed a header similarly close to the upright.
The keeper did manage to rush out to block a toe-poke from Graeme Le Saux as
he ran onto the return ball in a one-two with Vialli, while Di Matteo and
Petrescu fired in venomous shots which missed the target by a few feet.
Valerenga were just managing to stay in the game however and the Blues would
have been well aware of the way in which the Norwegians came back from 3-0 down
at half-time in the previous round away to Besiktas to draw level.
There certainly caused a handful of nervous moments, with Le Saux clearing
after a poor punch by Ed De Goey and Chelsea seemed to have settled for 2-0
towards the end as they pushed forward in decreasing numbers.
But that was reckoning without Wise's strike six minutes from time as the
midfielder capitalised on Flo's knockdown from Le Saux's cross to smash his shot
home as the entire Valerenga appealed in desperation for offside.
It is almost inconceivable that Chelsea could now lose this tie but far
tougher tests await them this season - starting at Old Trafford on Sunday in the
FA Cup.
Teams:
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.
Valarenga: 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.
Att: 34,177
Ref: G Benko (Austria).
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