19/09/2002  Chelsea 2 Viking FK 1
 
Chelsea dropped another UEFA Cup clanger as they gave away a last-minute away goal to leave them facing another banana skin in the return leg in Norway in a fortnight.

Last season the Blues crashed out to Israeli minnows Hapoel Tel Aviv, but were expected to banish those memories by cruising past Viking.

In fact, it should have been a party night for manager Claudio Ranieri - who was celebrating his second anniversary as manager of Chelsea.

But the celebrations fell flat as former Bristol City striker Ben Wright came off the bench and struck with only 12 seconds of normal time remaining - leaving the Norwegians needing to win 1-0 in the return to dump the Barclaycard Premiership team out of the competition.

The Blues had been heading to Norway for the second leg in a fortnight with a two-goal cushion thanks to goals in either half from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Enrique De Lucas.

It was Dutch striker Hasselbaink, recalled to the starting line-up after being left on the bench against Newcastle on Saturday, who at least gave Ranieri something to celebrate as he grabbed the 42nd minute opener.

It looked as if Chelsea would have to make do with that as they spurned several chances to have this UEFA Cup first round tie wrapped up.

But De Lucas, a summer signing from Espanyol, gave them a little bit more breathing space when he scored his first goal for the club after 68 minutes, and that should have been enough to see off a dogged Viking team until they took their foot of the pedal and conceded a sloppy late goal.

The night was tinged with of sadness following the news former striker Ian Hutchinson died today at the age of 54.

Hutchinson, one of the heroes of the 1970 FA Cup final victory over Leeds, was famous for his long throw, and a minute's silence was held in his memory before kick-off.

This tie failed to capture the imagination of the Chelsea fans as a crowd of less than 16,000 turned out at Stamford Bridge.

The home contingent should have been celebrating a goal after just 75 seconds. Hasselbaink split the Viking defence with a brilliant ball into the path of Jesper Gronkjaer, who cut inside from the right and drilled his effort beyond the far post.

It took 10 minutes for the Norwegians to settle and when they did it needed a brilliant reflex save from Carlo Cudicini to prevent Chelsea from falling behind.

The pace of right back Bjorn Dahl and the skill of former Manchester United striker Erik Nevland created a shooting chance on the edge of the box for Trygve Nygaard, and his fierce drive was superbly turned away by the goalkeeper.

Chelsea had another let-off in the 20th minute when Nevland beat the offside trap on the right flank and crossed well for Morten Berre, but he missed his kick with only Cudicini to beat.

Olsen was finally beaten after 35 minutes when Gianfranco Zola set up Hasselbaink. He slipped his shot past the goalkeeper but skipper Brede Hangeland was back covering in the six-yard box and cleared the ball.

Chelsea were on top but missing chances until their frustration was finally relieved after 42 minutes when Hasselbaink pounced on an error by Hangeland, who failed to cut out Gronkjaer's low cross. The Dutchman slipped the ball past Olsen and this time it went into the net off the legs of the Viking skipper.

Gudjohnsen was replaced by Frank Lampard for the second half and Hasselbaink pushed up alongside Zola.

But the Dutchman tried to be a little too cute after 56 minutes and wasted a golden scoring chance.

He jinked his way towards goal and when he finally tried to shoot he was denied by a brilliant point-blank save from Olsen.

It looked as if Chelsea might have been heading to Scandinavia with a slender first leg lead until De Lucas gave them further breathing space.

Jody Morris played a delightful ball into the box from deep in his own half and De Lucas was left unchallenged to lob the ball over Olsen.

It should have been three after 71 minutes as De Lucas turned provider with a lovely cross from the right for Hasselbaink. But, with the goal at his mercy, he sent his diving header wide of the far post.

Chelsea have been guilty of blowing seemingly easy ties in this competition in recent times, and they pressed the self-destruct button in the dying seconds to leave the tie very much alive.