Having complained about lacking enough good ingredients to make a decent omelette, José Mourinho is in danger of being sent to the stocks. The Chelsea manager was grateful to Andriy Shevchenko, his old sparring partner, for saving him from an ignominious defeat at Stamford Bridge last night.

The Ukraine striker’s second-half equaliser against a team struggling to hold on to fifth place in the Norwegian league enabled him to wipe egg from his face, but although Chelsea were booed off at the final whistle, it is the verdict of Roman Abramovich that will most concern Mourinho.

With Waitrose grasping the opportunity for a publicity stunt by sending several boxes of their class As to the ground before kick-off, the only saving grace for Mourinho was that there were so few people around to hurl them. Just 24,973 turned up for Chelsea’s opening match in group B of the Champions League, the club’s worst attendance for four years.

Those who bothered were rewarded with an entertaining match in which Chelsea created enough chances to win, but they did not deserve to because of the profligacy of their finishing last night. Mourinho’s side had 29 shots and hit a post twice, although a more revealing statistic is that only five of their attempts were on target.

“We needed 20 chances to score one goal, so to score two goals we need 40 chances and three goals we need 60 chances,” Mourinho said. “I cannot score goals myself.”

Chelsea have scored only two goals in their past four matches, which goes a long way to explaining why they are without a win in three, although the danger for Mourinho is that such a blip could descend into a deeper malaise. Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard are doubtful for Sunday’s Barclays Premier League match away to Manchester United, condemning Chelsea to travel north armed with water pistols rather than their heavy artillery.

Florent Malouda and Michael Essien were the only members of last night’s squad to have scored all season before kick-off, while Shevchenko’s first goal for 161 days is unlikely to open the floodgates. The 31-year-old worked tirelessly and produced some neat build-up play, but his sharpness has disappeared with his advancing years while his faltering confidence will not be restored by the verdict of his manager. “My team didn’t win and Sheva is part of my team, so I have nothing to say about him,” Mourinho said. “Nothing special.”

In keeping with much of the past 18 months, Mourinho’s treatment of the club’s record signing appeared too harsh because without Shevchenko’s contribution, Chelsea would be reeling from only their second home defeat in normal time in 98 matches under the Portuguese. For all their spirited defence and speed on the break, Rosenborg bear little resemblance to Barcelona, who inflicted Chelsea’s previous loss en route to winning the competition two seasons ago.

Lars Hirschfeld, the former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper, had barely been tested when Shevchenko performed a passable impression of Drogba in the 53rd minute, leaping to meet Malouda’s cross from the left to score at the near post. Even then, Mourinho seemed strangely dissatisfied, berating Shevchenko for celebrating rather than haring back for the kick-off.

Rosenborg could have been out of sight by that stage, as Alexander Tettey had missed a chance to double their lead by blasting over the bar from Marek Sapara’s cross a minute earlier. Sapara had played a crucial part in giving the visiting team the lead in the 25th minute, whipping a free kick into the area for Miika Koppinen to score with a left-foot volley after getting ahead of John Terry.

Chelsea’s response was stronger than that of their silent fans, but their efforts were characterised by chaos rather than composure. Knut Torum, the Rosenborg coach, likened the final half-hour to an ice hockey match as Malouda and Salomon Kalou both hit a post, although absorbing such pressure should not undermine their achievement. To put it in context, Rosenborg’s starting lineup were assembled for £4.3 million, 30 times less than the £120 million spent on Chelsea’s understrength team.

Torum was confident enough to predict a Rosenborg victory in the return match at the end of November, with Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat to Tromso on their previous visit to Norway ten years ago serving as an omen. “We were lucky to get a point as Chelsea had a lot of chances and in the last 20 minutes it was like a power-play in ice hockey,” Torum said. “We believe we can qualify for the next round and beat Chelsea at home. I remember Chelsea being in Norway in the winter before and it will be quite cold for them.” With his team’s chances of a first European Cup looking more elusive than ever, the English winter could be even colder for Mourinho.

Chelsea (4-1-3-2): P Cech - J Belletti, Alex, J Terry, A Cole (sub: T Ben Haim, 74min) – C Makelele – J Cole (sub: S Wright-Phillips, 74), M Essien, F Malouda – S Kalou, A Shevchenko. Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, S Sidwell, J O Mikel, P Ferreira, L Sawyer. Booked: Essien.

Rosenborg (4-1-4-1): L Hirschfeld – R Strand, C Basma (sub: B T Kvarme, 46), M Koppinen, M Dorsin – V Riseth – P C Skjelbred (sub: S Iversen, 85), M Sapara (sub: D K Ya, 69), A Tettey, A R Traoré – Y Koné. Substitutes not used: A Lund Hansen, F Stoor, A Lago, A Nordvik. Booked: Dorsin, Koné.

Referee: L Duhamel (France).