Champions League - Roma bring Chelsea down

Eurosport - Wed, 05 Nov 11:39:00 2008

Chelsea suffered a chastening Champions League defeat as Roma exploded back into form with a 3-1 victory at the Stadio Olimpico.

FOOTBALL Champions league Roma Chelsea Totti Terry - 0

Mirko Vucinic scored a brace after former Chelsea defender Christian Panucci had opening the scoring with a goal against the run of play just after the half-hour.

John Terry pulled one back with 15 minutes to go for the visitors but despite pressing hard, Chelsea could not get back into the game - and also suffered the blow of having midfielder Deco sent off late on.

Roma's victory, which breaks a spell of five successive defeats in league and cup, tightens things up in Group A, with Chelsea still topping the group with seven points from four games, with Roma and Bordeaux close behind on six points and CFR Cluj bringing up the rear with four.

The game had been in doubt following a torrential three-hour downpour but was finally given the go ahead by match official Luis Medina Cantalejo, with conditions underfoot soaking wet but free of standing water.

Chelsea made the stronger start to the match, peppering Doni's goal with some well-struck efforts from the edge of the box, Frank Lampard and Deco bringing smart saves out of the keeper with shots from distance.

But the visitors failed to carve out any clear-cut chances despite their dominance, and Roma stunned them with the opening goal just after the half-hour when Panucci strolled through a static Chelsea defence to meet Cicinho's low cross with a sidefoot past Petr Cech.

It was a goal scored completely against the run of play but struggling Roma took heart from their good fortune and began to take control of the game - which they did when they doubled their lead just three minutes after the restart.

Matteo Brighi cut in from the left across the edge of the Chelsea penalty box before stabbing the ball to Montenegro striker Vicinic, who lashed the ball with power into the far corner from 25 yards, Cech left pawing at mid-air.

And as a visibly rocked Chelsea bundled forward in search of a way back into the match, Vucinic scored a wonderful second on the counter, running 70 yards with the ball after robbing John Obi Mikel in his own half before curling a shot inside the near post as Terry was caught positionally in two minds.

The burly Chelsea defender did manage to cut the deficit with 15 minutes to go with a close-range finish after a shot through a crowded penalty area was deflected into his path, although he did look suspiciously offside.

Just minutes later the visitors were reduced to 10 men in farcical circumstances when Deco was shown a second yellow card, seemingly for taking a free-kick too quickly for the referee's liking.

Cluj 1-2 Bordeaux

Bordeaux boosted their qualifying hopes with a 2-1 victory at CFR Cluj.

Yoann Gourcuff put the French team in front after six minutes before Dani headed Cluj level three minutes later.

Brazilian Wendel grabbed the winner for Bordeaux from a 19-metre free kick in the 38th minute.

Bordeaux and Roma share second place in Group A with six points from four games, one point behind leaders Chelsea.

Both teams attacked from the start and created several goal-scoring chances.

After the three goals, Cluj were unlucky not to claim their second equaliser of the night when Yssouf Kone's effort was deflected to safety by defender Matthieu Chalme.

Keeper Matthieu Valverde also rescued Bordeaux when he deflected away a header by Sixto Peralta.

Laurent Blanc's Bordeaux had a chance to extend their advantage in stoppage time but striker Marouane Chamakh was denied by home goalkeeper Eduard Stancioiu.

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport / Reuters

Comment 120 - 139 of 139

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  1. kamenexe,you need to get ur facts right everybody knows that roma play the best football and have passion there is no other team like that the players at roma play for the love of the team as every other player plays for money so that shows that roma have character and belief

    From vstt@..., on Wed 5 Nov 5:09PM

  2. nice job roma

    From r.chechen, on Wed 5 Nov 4:29PM

  3. kamenexe, before you slag off other peoples writing get your own spelling correct, "logical"

    From rewandjew, on Wed 5 Nov 4:21PM

  4. Guys can you type 2 logycal sentences one after the other, or is it too hard ? What is this retarded talks about Chelski bla bla whatever, or 4k man utd, or bragging about who is sold for how much? It was just 1 game, Roma were with their backs against the wall and they played good football, Chelsea are the better team ,but didnt put their minds into the match and lost. plain and simple with 1 sentence. Still , Chelsea have one of the best chances of going to the semi-finals at least, while Roma aint going. Simple as that. and IMHO , in the European Tournaments, namely Champs League, there is one thing more important than quality of players, money and all the broken english words you use.- CHARACTER ,name of the club you play for, and self belief. these things money CANT buy. The teams which have those qualities are counted on the finger of one hand- Real, Juventus, United, Bayern, Milan ,maybe Barca and Liverpool too. every other team is a joke tbh. get real and live with it. ( im Aston Villa fan).

    From kamenexe, on Wed 5 Nov 3:51PM

  5. Well done to Vucinic for the goals that killed off Chelsea. But Chelsea will win this group. They always come back from upsets!

    From Alex, on Wed 5 Nov 3:46PM

  6. THIS IS GREAT!! NOBODY GIVES A F@%K WHO'S THE BETTER TEAM!! THIS IS ABOUT PURE ENGLISH TERRACE HATRED AND TEAM RIVALRY!!

    P.S

    YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE.

    From dplinston@..., on Wed 5 Nov 3:04PM

  7. Frank who,John Who?? hahahahahahahhaha

    From Tommy, on Wed 5 Nov 2:55PM

  8. OH DEAR OH DEAR.ONCE AGAIN THESE SO CALLED BIGTIME PLAYERS GO MISSING

    From !, on Wed 5 Nov 1:35PM

  9. This game was a must win game for ROMA THEY ARE GETTING A VERY BAD PRESS IN ITALY AND CAME OUT ON THE PITCH AND PLAYED OUT OF THERE SKINS.THIS IS THE TURNING POINT OF THERE SEASON.ROMA FOR THE CUP

    From MARTIN, on Wed 5 Nov 12:59PM

  10. guys take heart it happens i am i die hard arsenal fan but i know things like this happens so cheer up

    From ola, on Wed 5 Nov 12:39PM

  11. Chelsea...who are ya,who are ya!!!!!!!!!

    From Tommy, on Wed 5 Nov 12:37PM

  12. As a British football fan i wanted Chelsea to win. Theyre still an awesome side and if they make a habit of losing unimportnat games then thats no bad thing. Unfortunately as Man U fan, statistics wise, they'll probably win most of the important games during the year.

    From Thomas, on Wed 5 Nov 11:58AM

  13. love it!!!!!!! 3-1 how funny was that. Can't wait to see how many fans vote thumbs down on this comment, hahahahaha!!!!! It was almost as entertaining to watch as Gerrards dive. Bring it on voters!!!!!!!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

    From rewandjew, on Wed 5 Nov 11:54AM

  14. :-), chelsea were rubbish. shocking. It was Roma's day. We took enough stick for that 7:1 thing, now it's time to give it back and enjoy! Forza Totti

    From Baywatch, on Wed 5 Nov 11:26AM

  15. can masoud remember, ronaldo 12m, tevez 4m loan deal

    From jakesnow@..., on Wed 5 Nov 11:20AM

  16. Jah2Fox you are an idiot! I bet you've never even been to watch Man Utd - I'm a Hull City supporter and still went to Old Trafford twice last year to watch Man Utd purely because they're a joy to watch. To say you don't want English teams to do well is ignorant because without those teams doing well in Europe the english game wouldn't be what it is today as it wouldn't attract the likes of Tevez, Ronaldo, Berbatov etc so just think before you speak mate

    From Hull Tiger, on Wed 5 Nov 11:20AM

  17. Still the group leader, still at the very top of the premier league, and still the best team in the world.4K man u.....CHELSEA 4 LIFE.

    From henry, on Wed 5 Nov 11:17AM

  18. Where did you get your prices?? We bought ronaldo for 12million.

    From denisosulli, on Wed 5 Nov 11:16AM

  19. CAN MAN U SUPORTARS COUNT?1- FERDINAN £30M -2- RONDLDO £40M -3-BERBATOV £31M -4-TEVEZ £30M.= £131M. WHO WANTS 2 WIN TROPHIES WITH MONEY? MAN U OR CHELSEA? THINK TWICE BEFORE U TALK ABOUT TROPHIES AND MONEY.THESE R JUST 4 PLAYERS HOW MANY MORE PLARES R IN MAN U TEAM? EVEN SUNTHERLAND SPENT £85M SINCE ROY KEAN TOOK OVER, MORE THAN CHELSEA.GOOD LUCK CHELSEA.

    From masoud.ahmadi72, on Wed 5 Nov 11:04AM

  20. Chelsea are the best..they'll kill Blackburn 7-0 nxt week...

    From junaid_sid93, on Wed 5 Nov 11:01AM
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