rosenberg inspires malmö to olympiacos win published: wednesday 1 october 2014, 23.00cet malmö ff 2-0 olympiacos fc markus rosenberg scored twice as sweden's champions saw off míchel's side to earn the club's first uefa champions league points. by sujay dutt from malmö new stadium
• markus rosenberg scores both to earn malmö's first uefa champions league points • hosts go level with olympiacos in group a • malmö new stadium enjoys competition for first time • check out our exclusive behind-the-scenes photography of tonight's game • next matches: atlético v malmö, olympiacos v juventus (22 october)
skipper markus rosenberg struck twice for malmö ff to see off olympiacos fc and get the swedish club's first points in the uefa champions league.
the local boy returned to the allsvenskan champions after nine years away in europe and quickly proved inspirational in helping his club through qualification. the fairy tale continued as the greek team were seen off by a goal in each half from the 32-year-old.
after a 14-year wait, the uefa champions league returned to swedish soil and the malmö new stadium soaked up the occasion for the first time. the fans gave the players a raucous welcome but it was the hosts who came immediately under pressure, pajtim kasami unleashing a fierce effort that robin olsen in the malmö goal did well to palm away for a corner.
the first half saw both olsen and his counterpart roberto pulling off fine saves, amid a physical but well-tempered encounter. as the clock ticked towards 45 minutes, rosenberg made the breakthrough. ısaac thelin rose highest to flick on a long ball which the no9 sprinted to chase down. he overpowered alberto botía to get to the ball first and prodded towards the olympiacos keeper who saved with his legs. to roberto's dismay, however, it rebounded back to rosenberg who took a touch to compose himself before sliding in calmly.
åge hareide's side were in a delicate situation as the second period kicked off; to continue on the attack or shut up shop at the back and see out the win through defensive resolve? ıt appeared at first they had opted for the latter approach, and olympiacos nearly got an equaliser through former malmö man jimmy durmaz who entered off the bench. durmaz's powerful drive almost slipped through olsen's fingers yet the keeper did enough.
thelin made insufficient contact with his shin when he only needed to turn a rebound past roberto, before the olympiacos custodian denied magnus eriksson a second. however, míchel's men squandered their chance to get something from the night when olsen somehow kept giannis maniatis out from close range before erik johansson cleared the follow-up off the line. rosenberg confirmed the points with eight minutes remaining; substitute pawel cibicki brushed off éric abidal in the box and laid back for the forward to smash into the top corner to set the stadium rocking.
