European Nights: Cluj v Roma Liveblog

By: chris | November 26th, 2008

Cluj 1 – Roma 3

And Chelsea has kissed its sister….top of the group, baby.

Roma 9
Chelsea 8
Bordeaux 7
Cluj 4

GAME
a
Mirko misses a sitter for good measure.

92′ Just waiting for the final whistle….Piza bundled.

Mirkko has it 1v1 on the left of the keeper and fires it left of the post. 2 minutes of stoppage time.

90′ Of course, a Piza cameo for Simone.

88′ Baptista shoots wide, quickly taken by Cluj’s garbage keeper.

86′ Riise coming in for Max, who as picked up a slight case of frostbite due to his short sleeves. Actually, Riise has short sleeves too, but he’s Norwegian so -4 C is a freakin’ sauna for him. Max just wanted to show him he’s still the toughest LB, gray hair and all.

85′ I know this is terrible, but I’m peeking over my laptop more intently than watching Roma now….ooh, Lampard sent off for a second yellow. Come on, Frank.

84′ Mirko on the slalom…..ball in to Baptista is off and it’s cleaned up easily by Cluj.

82′ Bordeaux just equalized off a header. GET IT TOGETHER CHELSEA.

80′ Doni parries a shot out for a corner, which turns into a gk. Harmless. Totti’s coming out for Mirko here. Good move. Got a yellow for that scuffle and he needs no chance for more troubles.

79′ DDR ball over the top too strong, keeper nabs it…Cluj cross….Totti sends it high to Baptista who gets owned by the defender. He won’t wanna see that replay.

78′ Brighi in the box, cross cleared out. Cluj attack results in a harmless shot on goal from 25.

76′ Just noticing Philouppe has gone all Camo with the Geisha look. Nice.

75′ Cassetti’s still hobbling. Of all the positions no depth there today, too.

74′ Soooo….Pannathinaikos just scored at the San Siro. Brilliant.

Totti’s getting into a fight here. Might be time to get him off. And would you look at this, Mexes is the voice of reason. Wow, horrible tackle by Trica on Cassetti. Studs to the ankle. Totti just sticking up for Marco, who’s hobbling off.

73′ Ack. DDR down….ankle. He’s getting up. DDR don’t take that ish.

72′ Cluj bring on another Kone for Dubarbier. Ball towards the box….cleared……Baptista break….taken down from behind in the box and no penalty. Where was penalty? Even the commentators wanted it….Totti….shoots high.

70′ Cluj corner goes out for a goal kick. I think it’s about time to wonder when the subs are coming. It’s mighty chilly here and Fiorentina is coming up over the weekend. No injuries needed. Taddei owns a Cluj attacker. Well done, sir.

69′ Spalletti’s jubilant. As am I. Simple stuff from Roma.

A brilliant ball for Taddei to run onto, Taddei sends it on the floor to Brighi who has a simple finish ahead of him. Simple, efficient, yet beautiful work. And a brace for Brighinho.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL BRIGHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

63′ Cluj with it but caught under pressure and give it right back to Roma. Their adrenaline may have worn off.

Baptista….crossjust misses thee white shirts in the box. No clue how.

61′ Slower play now…working around just inside the Cluj half. Baptista clipped and loses it, but Roma get a throw back. Waiting for the opening here. Nice work by Taddei to find Cassetti over his head, Cluj get it back but anoother Roman throw.

60′ Cassetti cross out for a corner…DDR on it….headed out.

1-0 Chelsea in France.

59′ More of the same from this game, a lot of sloppy back and forth play. Mistakes abound.

57′ Totti taken down…foul….quickly taken….another foul. Game’s getting quite physical.Totti takes a frree ball…..sends it wide to Max…..Baptista….Totti pass stolen easily. But DDR cleans up the mess….DDR gets a yellow? Wtf? Handball maybe? Cluj kept playing. Strange sequence there.

55′ Another Cluj cross misses Kone’s spectacular effort and Doni gets it…..Totti bundled….no call. Foul on J. Bapt.

53′ Kone down the right, Juan on the tackle. Guy’s a 1v1 machine. Clu cross sent through the box…get it back…ball sent back out….corner played short eventually sent out for a goal kick.

52′ Totti sens the ball to Simone outside the box who mishit the volley. Not a bad idea, poor execution.

51′ Spalletti’s wearing at least three coats….Dubarbier stretchered off…..Roma in the build up…pass foiled….Kone down the other end, pass cleaned up. Max down the left….cross put out for a corner.

Looks like Simone is back on the pitch. Dubarbier’s getting some help, though.

49′ Play up near the Cluj box headed out….Perrotta’s hrt….but Baptista continues the play and it deflects out for a corner. Simone’s heading to the sidelines it seems….corner…dropped by the keeper but lands with Culio. Cluj down the other end….Roma breaking….Baptsita…..Tonetto cross….Brighi heads it straight up….another Cluj break….crazy….Culio. Dubarbier gets taken off the ball and they want a foul.

46′ Cross from Pereira already causes the first heart murmurs as Kone’s header goes wide.

SECOND HALF KICKOFF

The tunnel is on the other side of the pitch so 700 people just erupted from the inner bowels of the stadium, now making their way across the pitch.

Some efficient work by Roma – including, what else, a Totti beaut – but Cluj look absolutely lethal in the Roman final third. Julio Culio is a one man machine and Roma’s simply fortunate Kone loves getting taken off the ball. The trio of Dubarbier, Culio and Kone need to be stopped in the second half or else this could get out of hand. It’s a lead going in, yet it feels like anything but.

Should be incredibly exciting for the neutrals, however, as both D’s forgot to take their FocusFactor.

HALFTIME.

45′ One minute of stoppage.

44′ Cross by Tonetto headed by Totti ontto an on running Simone but not strong enough. That had a chance.

43′ Julio Culio steals it mo#$%&@#$%ing again….Kone owned by someone. Cluj get it yet again way up the pitch, Dubarbier, who really impressed in the first game, is offside. Someone needs to pee test Cluj. Given that this is Romania, I’m only half joking.

41′ Sloppy work both ways in the middle of the pitch. Simone fouled.

39′ Some nice work at the top of the box eventually winds up a…..goal kick. Thought it deflected. Bah.

38′ Culio thieves the back….twice….and sends in two incredibly dangerous balls. Would someone mark this guy for fuck’s sake. He’s Roma’s kryptonite. According to Wiki, he’s scored 2 goals in his Cluj career. The Roman two? Whadafuxup?

36′ Totti cross sent out for a throw, foul given against Brighi. Cluj ball. Baptista body checkeed, no foul. DDR goes head over and finally gets a call.

35′ Bordeaux – Chelsea on in the background, still 0-0.

34′ Roma on the break and a Cluj player gets a mysterious facial injury, goes down. Professional self-fouling at its finest.

32′ Cluj back at it after some tricky dribbling and the shot goes wide. Seriously, this is frightening.

30′ The lads take it right down the other end, but the long ball by the keeper puts Cluj in another dangerous position and Kone’s cross forces another headed clearance. Good christ this team needs only an inch.

29′ Another corner cleared out….but Cluj get one back through Kone. The defense has beeen sloppy and Doni’s rebound goes right to Kone who puts it in. 2-1.

27′ Free kick…..deflected over the bar for a corner. Cross headed out. Roma back in possession.

25′ I switched to a more accurate stream. DDR taken out by an errant hand. Juan fouls for a Cluj free kick in another dangerous position after Dubarbier does his best CR3.5 shot in midair impression.

Brilliant. Fucking brilliant.

21′ Free kick in a dangerous spot after Baptista is taken out. Stretchered off…..Totti……..GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLL FRANCESCOOOOOOOOOO

20′ Ball over the top and Brighi is ruled offside before he’s given a powerbomb by the keeper.

19′ Holeeeeeee shit. Trica missed a sitter with an open net. Wow, Roma’s on life three here after the ball is allowed to roll through the box untouched.

18′ Back. Didn’t miss anything outside of a headed back pass which nearly turned into 1-1. Typical.

13′ Alrigght, I’ll be back in 5. Need to reboot.

A goal from nothing. Ball over the top seemingly heading for a goal kick and Perrotta’s tireless running tracks it down ahead of the keeper and flicks it back to Brighi who has an open net. Eat that, Perrotta haterz.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAL BRIGHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

10′ Cassetti shot goes just wide lazy defending from Cluj. Roma back in the Romanian half, cross picked up by the keep.

8′ Everyone’s wearing full ski suits and Max is wearing short sleeves. Ballsy, I love it.

7′ This is not going as planned, that’s for sure. Roma gets a throw in the Cluj half, Totti fouled. Free kick, DDR into the box……headed out for a Roma throw.

5′ No ability to maintain possession yet. Wonder when Pizarro will start warming up. Or has he already?

Doni saves a goal after the defense is scorched by Cluj’s passing. Hole-ee shite.

3′ Dangerous times already in the Roman box. 2 corners followed by two defenders missing a header and Doni’s save forces corner number 3. This is ugly.

2′ Roma start off by playing with it in their own half for a bit before giving up possession, which Simone steams back to regain. Missed seeing him at treq.

KICKOFF

Alright, now moved onto the Athde sopcast stream which works. Lads are on the pitch and we’re about to kick off….

The Slovakian stream is alright if they end up showing the game. Right now it’s dude’s volleyball. Not exactly my cuppa. Actually, the video is now mucked up.

Streaming. Having only taken a quick look, I believe that Romanian stream is decent if you don’t mind shameless fawning in your commentary.

Per UEFA, the lineup:

Doni
Cassetti, Mexes, Juan, Tonetto
Taddei, DDR, Brighi
Perrotta
Baptista, Totti

Both Vuci & Pizarro starting from the pine. Didn’t expect that. Suppose we’ll need to put a little more faith in RomaNews’ predicted lineups.

Bench: Artur, Loria, Riise, Pizarro, Menez, Montella, Vucinic.

No Alberto? That bodes well…