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On Wednesday, another two first quarter-final matches were played in the UEFA Champions League, marked by fierce competition. Roma narrowly defeated Man Utd at home, while Chelsea and Valencia ended in a draw.
At the Rome Olympic Stadium, the Italian capital's Roma club clashed with the English champions, Manchester United. The first danger arose near Edwin van der Sar's goal, when Roma's defender Christian Chivu dangerously took a penalty kick and the ball missed the target. Ten minutes later, Roma captain Francesco Totti's penalty kick was saved by the Red Devils' Dutch goalkeeper.
In the first half, the hosts attacked more frequently, while the guests responded with rare counterattacks. However, in the 34th minute, everything turned upside down when Man Utd defender Paul Scholes received his second yellow card for a foul on F. Totti.
With a quantitative advantage, the Roma players broke through in the closing stages of the first half when Mancini passed the ball to Brazilian Taddei, whose shot deflected off Wes Brown's foot and ricocheted into the goal.
In the second half, just three minutes in, Roma could have doubled their lead - F. Totti started a quick counterattack, passing the ball to Simone Perrotta on the right, who crossed it to Taddei, but this time E. van der Sar neutralized the threat. Shortly after, a shot from F. Totti flew over the goal.
However, the visitors from Manchester were not willing to give up so easily and managed to equalize in the 60th minute. E. van der Sar passed the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo, who then passed it to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the flank, and after his chest pass, Wayne Rooney accurately shot into the right corner of the goal.
But the result quickly changed. Mirko Vučinič, who came on as a substitute, restored the balance in his team's favor six minutes later. E. van der Sar parried Mancini's long shot, but the first to reach it was the Montenegrin legionnaire, who sent the ball into the net while falling. Roma did not stop there and created several more dangerous moments towards the end of the match. In the 81st minute, E. van der Sar blocked S. Perrotta's shot, while F. Totti's attempt was slightly inaccurate.
After this victory, Luciano Spalletti's Roma team will need to avoid defeat by more than two goals in the return match in Manchester next week, while Manchester United would be satisfied with a minimal away victory by a score of 1-0.
In the other match at London's Stamford Bridge Stadium, the home team Chelsea tested their strength against the Spanish side Valencia. The first perfect opportunity was missed by Chelsea's forward Salomon Kalou, whose powerful shot shook the crossbar of the "bats'" goal.
In the English capital, fans had to wait half an hour for a goal. David Villa combined nicely with his teammate David Silva and the latter sent the ball into the top corner of the goal, leaving no chance for Chelsea's goalkeeper Petr Čech.
In the second half, Chelsea created numerous chances. Lassana Diarra passed the ball to Salomon Kalou, but his shot went wide. Michael Ballack was also inaccurate. However, in the 53rd minute, defender Ashley Cole made a long pass to Didier Drogba, who headed the ball past Santiago Canizares. As the match neared its end, Chelsea pressed the opponents more and more, but failed to score the winning goal.
Statistics:
1 – 1 30’ [0 – 1] David Silva 53’ [1 – 1] Didier Drogba
2 – 1 44’ [1 – 0] Rodrigo Taddei 60’ [1 – 1] Wayne Rooney 68’ [2 – 1] Mirko Vučinič
