Originally Posted by
David Grizzle
Olympique Rouen finally break through, Win 1st Champions League title
It was a dramatic, tense affair that included a 2nd min goal, an 88th min goal, each GK saving an on target free kick in dramatic fashion, a gut wrenching leg break, and a severe ankle strain.
The game was less than 90 seconds on when AM Mauro Ezen opened up the scoring on a quick counter. It was a sweet moment for Ezen who had been in somewhat of a funk without a goal or assist in his last 8 matches coming into the final. But the day would turn ugly for the prolific Brazilian as a clear foul from Italian CM Antonio Moretto on the planted leg of Ezen saw the leg snap in half. He was carted off the field to a standing ovation a few mins later.
The ensuing free kick was whipped into the box by CM Segreste and found the head of Rouen's homegrown sensation Omar Cardenas for his career best 26th goal of the season making the score 2-0.
The 2nd half began with S Leon coming out with a 3 ST formation and pushing hard, the tactic paid off 5 mins into the 2nd half when Suheri Safri scored a sensational goal to get his club back into the match at 2-1 down.
Rouen settled things down a bit with their own adjustments and their defense clamped down hard on every attack by the underdogs while the possession advantage dwindled from the 67% in the first half to under 60% when the game ended.
In the 68th min S Leon CB Billy Boyack committed a reckless foul and for the 2nd time in the game a Rouen player had to be carted off the field. This time the blow came to the teams captain and all time leading scorer Mikkel Sorensen, who tests later revealed suffered a ankle strain.
The continued brutal assault by the underdogs did not go unnoticed by OR and the team was galvanized by their stars injury. They spent the remaining 20+ mins in all out attack mode firing shot after shot and keeping their opponents pinned in their own half. Rouen finally got the end product they so deserved in the 88th min as Cardenas unselfishly pulled back and made a beautiful pass to Sebastian Rocha who easily buried it in the back of the net to become the 4th player this season to score at least 25 goals in all competitions for Les coqs gaulois.
In what seemed like an instant the final whistle had blown and the confetti began falling as the players and staff all poured onto the field to celebrate their first ever Champions League title. Both injured players were able to come back onto the field for the ceremony although Mauro Ezen was clearly in pain as he was wheeled up the ramp to join his teammates. Mikkel Sorensen set aside his crutches momentarily to lift the trophy over his head first before passing it on for the rest of the lads to get in on the celebration.
While the club had been very successful in their first 3 seasons there have been some critics who were not shy to point to the teams recent exits before the quarterfinals of the T11 cup and the two CL finals failures as signs that the manager could not win against squads of equal or greater caliber to his own side. They also pointed out that while the club won the league again they failed to win in either match against the 2nd place side who were the only other club with enough quality to challenge Rouen this season and did so earning a 2-2 road draw early on and then became the first team in over 2 years to beat Rouen in league play in a 4-2 beating that also was the most goals conceded against any opponent during that stretch.
This result, while a moment of joy for the club and their supporters will do little to stem the critics. This game was ugly and was up for grabs until the 88th min goal. The clubs two star strikers were both shut down and it was due to the prowess of the other attacking players that the club scored at all. Each of the 3 attacking mids who started the game scored a goal and it was a brilliantly placed free kick into the box from CM Christian Segreste that allowed Cardenas to score what would be the game winner after Ezen had his leg broken in the first half.
The club president and manager David Grizzle had this to say, "It isn't an accident that those four guys came up big for us. They have been doing it all year. We have had six players all year who are a threat to score in any game and when one or two have an off day the others pick up the slack. The four midfield players have combined for something like 96 goals this season between them, I don't see how this can be seen as anything but a strength for the club."
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