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Blues bounce into semis Chelsea advances on 6-2 aggregate over Valerenga
Posted: Thursday March 18, 1999 06:41 PM
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Chelsea added two early goals to its existing 3-0 advantage Thursday before coasting into the Cup Winners' Cup semifinals with a 3-2 quarterfinal win over Norweigian part-timers Valerenga. The defending titlist had a 3-0 edge after the first-leg at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago but two goals in the opening 15 minutes to Gianluca Vialli and Bernard Lambourde clinched the semifinal berth. Chelsea set up 3-2 lead at halftime Thursday and advanced on a 6-2 advantage after a scoreless second half in wet conditions at Ullaavi Stadium. Vialli returned to the Chelsea lineup and immediately set about rectifying the team's lackluster recent form with a goal in the 11th minute -- the Blues' first goal in 286 minutes of soccer. The Italian player-manager scored with a left-right combination. He initially miscued a cross from John Terry with his left boot but wrong footed Valerenga 'keeper Mikko Kaven in the process and then found the net with a right-footed half volley. Lambournde extended the lead in the 15th minute with a 30-yard drive after a Valerenga defensive mistake from a Dennis Wise corner. The home team hit back in the 27th minute when captain Fredrik Kjoelner leapt above Chelsea defender Terry to meet Dan Riisnaes' corner -- the home team's first -- and send a header to the left of Blues' goalkeeper Ed De Goey. But Chelsea restored a two-goal advantage when Tore Andre Flo, preferred to Gianfranco Zola as Vialli's striking partner, scored his first goal in eight matches. The Norweigian international, returning for a rare appearance at Norway's national stadium, scored with a diving header from a Dan Petrescu cross. The tall Valerenga forwards created problems for DeGoey at set pieces but the home team's second goal came from broken play when teenager John Carew beat DeGoey from a difficult angle in a one-on-one encounter in the 41st minute. Carew's goal raised protests from the Chelsea players after the referee over-ruled a signal from his linesman that the scorer was offside. Carew, a school student, took the ball in what appeared to be an offside position but the referee adjudged the ball had been deflected off a Chelsea defender, putting him into an on-side position.
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