Chelsea v Roma Liveblog

By: chris | October 22nd, 2008

GAME

93′ Foul on Totti. Chelsea moving it around…Lampard dribbling through the box. Whistle any moment here.

92′ Chelsea break….poor shot by Bosingwa. TIme wasting sub, Paulo Ferreira on for Anelka.

91′ Three minutes added.

90′ Roma break…DDR’s look foor Menez headed out by Carvalho. Not sure if Menez has touched the ball yet.

89′ Cicinho playing a really tight defensive game here……foul on Brighi from well out.

87′ And another foul for Chelsea….no shots on goal for Roma…oof.

86′ Foul in the box, deemed against Roma. Free kick.

85′ At last a Roman goal kick…Brighi bundled by Obi. Matteo taking a beaing tonight, but such is par for the course for him. Panucci yellow. WTF guys, keep it cool.

83′ Terry, who’s being quite the princess today, is upset with Philou. Throws an elbow. Shoulda coulda woulda beeen a second yellow…Lampard’s free kick put over by Doni. Always high, though. Corner….short…Deco…Lampard….another corner.

81′ And here comes Tonetto for Riise. Some overlapping legs down that left hand side.

80′ Free kick…..headed out….another foul against Anelka. Cicinho’s ball bounces through the box. Menez on for Rodrigo. Well done from him today.

79′ I’d really like to see Menez for Vucinic here. Mirko’s been absolutely useless. Free kick for Roma…and here comes Jeremy.

77′ Chelsea really pressing…corner…fuck…1-0 Terry. Another goddamn post is seemed.

75′ Bosingwa cross in the box hammered out by GOMR for a Chelsea throw…eventually goes out for a Roman goal kick. Chelsea still pressing here.

74′ Scolari about to bring on the Argie kid De Santo.

72′ Chelsea break…..crosses…Roma break….Taddei….slowing the pace. Terrible ball by Cicinho, of course. Cech gets it eventually.

71′ 65% possession for Chelsea in the second half. Yikes…yellow on Terry for a foul on Francesco.

69′ Foul called on Brighi, terrible call by the ref…free kick from 30 or so…deflects off the wall..Bosingwa…Riise puts it out for a throw.

68′ Totti offside. Is that Roma’s first offside tonight? Oh how things have changed tactically.

67′ Belletti pass to Mikel, whose shot ricochets out for a Roma goalkick.

66′ Vuci wastes a chance on the break….Chelsea knocking it about, finally sent deep for a goal kick.

65′ Kalou in the box, pass poorly sent to the feet of Philou….now Kalou wants a peno, none given.

64′ Obi John Mikel’s shot from afar goes way wide…nice, Doni’s walking back to his post gingerly. Sweet.

62′ A lot of action on the left flank of Romma right now. Chelsea’s primary avenue of attack.

60′ Chelsea free kick, Simone on for Alberto. Can only hope KA is alright. Free kick…Lampard…..brilliant save by Alex.

59′ Another clearance….eventually a Chelsea hand ball gives the boys a FK just outside the Chelsea half. Uh oh, Aquilani looks like he’ll need some assistance. Maybe even a sub. Stretching on the sideline. And here comes Perrotta. Fuck.

57′ Roma Roma Roma is resonating throughout the stadium. Where is this game being played?

56′ Chelsea work possession in the Roman half before conceding a throw. Nice ball fed to Anelka, a bit strong and Doni gathers it justoutside the six.

55′ Brilliant flick by Francesco, unfortunately to no onee…Totti with it…another epic pass before his touch fails him…Chelsea try and break, foiled by Philou.

54′ Chelsea corner…..foul on Carvalho against Mexes.

52′ Brighi hit in the face quite hard. Foul, Carvalho

50′ Anelka fires one wide from quasi-distance. Chelsea trying to take the opportunity to create holes in the Roma defense right now.

49′ Ball pinballing in the midfield before another Anelka offside.

47′ A tame start to the half, not undesirable considering the happenings this past weekend.

SECOND HALF KICKOFF

Second half coming up, Maloudacris coming off for Belletti.

Also, that Totti guy? Half decent.

And I don’t quite think it’ll help in the attacking department, but Mirko has done next to nothing this half and Bosingwa is being allowed time to father multiple children on the flanks before he sends in a cross. I could think of worse things than bringing in Max on the left wing in the second half at some point – provided he’s able, of course.

Can’t really say I’m displeased. They’re doing what they’ve got to do at Stamford Bridge to try and grind out a result. And yes, loving Brighi in here today. He needs more pitch time. A lot more.

HALFTIME

45′ Totti fouled on the break by Mikel Obi John, or whatever the fuck his name is these days….Cicinho foued as well. He’s taking a little beating today. Dead leg, knee to the thigh.

44′ Chelsea work it near the box, too strong a touch from Frank Lamps and Doni takes it easily. But back they come, Bosingwa again…headed out.

43′ Cicinho’s corner knocked out easily, Malouda puts it out for a throw…Vuci…Riise overlap….poor shot from Mirko goes nowhere near the goal.

41′ Foul Brighi…Anelka taken off by Mexes…..Vuci breaks…….Totti…ball to Aquilani knocked out by Terry. Chelsea wanting a foul down the other end, no dice.

40′ Totti shot goes high, but they’re sneaking in a few more chances here.

39′ Kalou on the right, ball deflects off Riise…..Brighi fouled running forward. Roma with possession.

37′ Riise….to Totti….Celsea give it back….Totti again…..Chelsea on a pseudo-break and Lampard’s shot from 25 whimpers wide.

36′ Here they come….Cicinho’s cross….Vucinic finds it on the othr win, back to Riise….Totti’s great ball to Brighi ricochets off Terry…corner…terribly taken by Francesco. Sends it to no one, miscommunication.

34′ Maloudacris taken off the ball easily in the box, but as is the plan today, it’s just cleared out to Chelsea’s renewed possession. I fear Pizarro in this midfield today, but they need someone sitting on the ball.

33′ Kalou with space….his ball is cleared out…Roma on the run…shows too much ball and is taken off the ball easily.

32′ Holy shit, Cicinho actually made a decent tackle. So excited his brain shuts off and he sends it deep to Cech.

30′ Chelsea passing it around the back here before the concede a throw. Everything in the middle of the pitch right now. Certainly could be worse.

29′ Maloudacris gets a yeller. All French yellows, all the time.

27′ Bosingwa pulls thee cross back and his pass is takeen easily. He’s really quite frightening with the ease he’s sending balls in from high.

26′ Pretty tame right now, both teams playing solid defense.

23′ 27m free kick……Lampard piledrives a rising shot just over the bar. Well taken, lucky for Roma.

22′ I’m not displeased, but they’re being pressed by Chelsea here. Mexes fouls Obi Mikel, dangerous free kick for Chelsea. Philou yellow. Wonderful.

20′ Kalou runs at Riise, Aqui intercepts thepass to Lampard. Roma forced to clear out possession…Vuci gets it bacck…on the run…through ball from Totti a touch too strong, Cech scoops it.

18′ Roma making it real tough on the midfield of Chelsea defensively. Bosingwa sends in yet another cross, no harm. One of the will turn deadly though. Vuci closes him down a bit more quickly this time around.

17′ DDR has a go, well wide. Probably could’ve had a better plan there.

16′ A big clusterfuck 30 yards from Doni in the Roman half right now. Certainly better than space for the new Chelsea. Lampard hacks down Aquilani, foul 40 yards out or so.

14′ Chelsea down the wing, Bosingwa on the cross which finds its way through the box, Chelsea knocking it about, finally give it up. Nice work by Scolari’s men there.

13′ Rodrigo down the wing, plays it back to DDR, Chelsea regain possession.

12′ Bosingwa cross headed out, foul on Totti…DDR….Cicinho…not the best of ball’s from Cicinho there, Chelsea win possession before an Incredible Sulk foul.

11′ Workin it around the back a little, Cheelsea gets possession. Maloudacris whiffs on the ball in the box. Nice.

10′ Totti shot goes wide right. Never a worry there.

9′ Lampard with a nice shot to DOni’s left, Alex nabs it.

7′ Long, looping shot/pass in from Maloudacris, Doni saves easily.Chelsea closing down quickly. I think this could work in Roma’s favor today.

5′ Riise with the throw, to DDR, making the run down the left, and Roma with another throw. This one begging for a Riise bomb…Vuci can’t control, cleared out of the box.

3′ Goalkick to Chelsea, offside again for Anelka. Taking cues from Vuci this year I guess.

2′ Little back and forth….Anelka’s offside.

KICKOFF

Alright, everyone’s on the pitch. Anthem is being played. It’s that time…

Just noticing Juan isn’t even on the bench. How wonderful.

Good omen of the day: I have never, ever seen a Roma shirt where I live. Either ManU or, you guessed, Chelsea. (No bandwagon jumpers there. No sir.) This morning I saw my first Roma shirt. If they win, we owe it to her.

Lineups

ROMA (4-1-4-1): Doni; Cicinho, Panucci, Mexes, Riise; De Rossi; Taddei, Brighi, Aquilani, Vucinic; Totti.
A disp.: Artur, Loria, Perrotta, Tonetto, Montella, Menez, Okaka.
All.: Spalletti.

CHELSEA (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho, Bridge; Mikel; Kalou, Deco, Lampard, Malouda; Anelka.
A disp.: Cudicini, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Ferreira, Alex, Belletti, Stoch.
All.: Scolari.

I really, really, really think Matteo Brighi will do well this game. Like that he’s in the lineup.

Streams and all that good junk here.