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John Terry's second-half header gave Chelsea a 1-0 victory over Roma at Stamford Bridge and moved his side three points clear on top of Champions League Group A.

The Chelsea captain glanced home Frank Lampard's corner on 78 minutes to give Luiz Felipe Scolari's men a deserved three points and break a stubborn Roman resistance.

Chelsea shaded a tight first half, in which both sides packed the midfield, leaving space at a premium.

On 19 minutes, Salomon Kalou burst down the right flank and squared to Lampard on the edge of the box. The England midfielder made space to shoot, but was denied with a sweetly-timed tackle from Alberto Aquilani.

Minutes later Lampard struck the bar with swerving free-kick from 25 yards, after Philippe Mexes had brought John Obe Mikel to the ground with a cynical trip.

Chelsea looked the more likely, but until Kalou drew a comfortable save from Doni with a weak left-foot effort on 28 minutes, the Brazilian goalkeeper had been a virtual bystander.

Roma were organised and efficient all over the pitch, and looked dangerous themselves when given the chance to counter.

As ever, that man Francesco Totti was at the heart of everything - dropping into midfield to collect possession and bringing his team-mates into the play with typical flair.

But while the Italians broke quickly, they were all too often reduced to hopeful long-range efforts as a result of the limited numbers they committed forward. Of those, Totti came closest early on, but Petr Cech was not troubled.

The second half saw Chelsea continue to press for the breakthrough.

On 62 minutes Lampard found Kalou unmarked six yards out with a right-wing free-kick, but the Ivorian could only direct his header straight at Doni with the goal gaping.

Chelsea remained patient however, and got the breakthrough they deserved with 12 minutes remaining when Terry headed home from Lampard's inswinging corner.

The England defender timed his run superbly to get the near post and headed across Doni and inside the far post to secure all three points.

Roma had scant time to respond and were resigned to a defeat that leaves them four points off the pace in Group A.

Chelsea, meanwhile, can secure qualification to the knock-out stages if they beat Roma in Italy on November 4.

Bordeaux 1-0 CFR Cluj

In the other match in Group A, Bordeaux ended the unbeaten Champions League run of surprise package CFR Cluj with a 1-0 home win over the Romanian side.

Cluj, who had started with a shock 2-1 win at Roma before holding Chelsea to a 0-0 draw in Romania, put up a brave fight until their captain, Cadu, deflected a Yoann Gourcuff cross into his own net on 54 minutes.

Bordeaux, who were hammered 4-0 by Chelsea before losing 3-1 to Roma, badly needed Cadu's help to put their campaign on track.

Last season's Ligue 1 runners-up created few clear chances and looked nervous at times in a tense, tactical affair featuring a late red card for Cluj midfielder Eugen Trica for a second booking.

The first clear chance was for the visitors when midfielder Gabriel Muresan headed the ball over the bar just before the half-hour mark.

Bordeaux responded immediately with Brazilian midfielder Fernando firing narrowly wide from outside the box.

Cluj threatened again on 36 minutes with an low angled shot by midfielder Juan Culio that Bordeaux keeper Ulrich Rame did well to save.

Bordeaux stepped up a gear after taking the lead and came close to doubling the advantage with another clumsy deflection by Cadu, this time with a header from a corner, that Cluj keeper Eduard Stancioiu managed to slap over the bar.

The visitors, however, did not give up and came close to an equaliser when forward Yssouf Kone raced into the box and narrowly missed the target with 13 minutes left.

Will Tidey / Reuters