Champions League LiveBlog: As Roma v Manchester United

By: Bob | April 4th, 2007

We’re liveblogging the full 90 minutes of the As Roma-Manchester United Champions League quarterfinal match. Come on in and join us with your thoughts, comments and rants during and after the game.

Roma 2-1 Man. United

Full time Well that was a lot of fun. In a game full of action, Roma comes away with a 2-1 win at home in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Manchester United faced a team that was attacking from the start and the challenge grew when Paul Scholes was sent out in the first half after two yellow cards. An away goal by Wayne Rooney makes the second leg next week very, very interesting. For more on today’s action, check out the Champions League Offside, Manchester United Offside, Valencia Offside, Chelsea Offside, and Italy Offside.

90:00 Corner for Roma and it goes out with little concern. Two minutes of injury time.

88:12 Roma with yet another surge forward with Totti running the show. Both teams looking a little tired. Rooney with a long run from end to end. Good effort from Rooney to maintain possession. Saha doing what he does best tonight: foul.

86:21 It will be fascinating to see what style Roma plays at Old Trafford. They look like an attacking club but will they be capable of playing the traditional Italian defensive game when they need to? Yellow card to Heinze for not moving the ball back on a free kick.

84:23 Does Roma have one left in them or will Manchester United hang on and take solace in having an away goal? We shall find out.

82:32 Totti with a long blast that doesn’t miss by much. He likes those long range shots.

81:21 Ronaldo more active this half but he is getting swallowed up by the Roma defense. Perrotta gets a volley off a cross and misses it by a country mile.

79:50 Roma corner is controlled and the attack continues. Vucinic called for a foul and he laughs like there is no tomorrow. Those Montenegrians are always laughing.

78:23 Roma remind me of a basketball team running a weave when they attack. They move all over the field. The game has settled down a bit but both teams continue to attack and entertain.

76:49 Ronaldo fouled and we get to see how many meters he has run this match. Louis Saha is on and Ryan Giggs is off.

75:49 The few times Manchester United have been able to mount their attack it has been impressive. The side to side movement helped to set up that Rooney goal. Roma hasn’t let it happen very often. Playing a man down doesn’t help either.

74:34 The Roma coach needs to have an action figure made of him. I want to play with that bald head of his.

73:12 Vucinic earns a free kick and Panuci blasts it over the goal wasting an opportunity. And there is a Dong sighting on the bench.

71:07 Darren Fletcher on and Solksjaer is off. He didn’t do much tonight.

70:20 Corner for Manchester United. Mancini taking it and swings it in on the ground and it is cleared away.

69:10 Well this one is making up for yesterday’s Liverpool match. End to end action with Manchester United competing a man down. Roma continues to attack and Ole Gunnar is show a card for a bad tackle.

66:52 And now Manchester United fans have a reason to hate Montenegro. Vucinic makes a difference right away after being inserted into the game. Van der Sar couldn’t do much with the Mancini shot and the rebound was drilled home.

65:42GOALLLLL! Vucinic takes a rebound shot off of a Mancini shot and drills the back of the net.

65:00 Ronaldo sent free but way offside. Manchester United not bunkering down. Macini takes a quick fall in the box and the referee doesn’t reward it.

63:43 Vucinic gets a shot right away and van der Sar is on the ground to save it. Roma continuing their forard attack but Man U playing with more poise.

61:34 What a change to this game. A man down and Rooney finally scores. An away goal is always huge in this competition. The Rat Tail off and Vucinic is on for Roma.

59:26 GOALLLLLLL! Wayne Rooney takes it from his chest and bumps it in. His first CL goal since 2004. Man U are back from the dead.

58:00 Rio Ferdinand and Totti go head to head and Totti is taken down. Totti takes a poor free kick that is easily taken by van der Dar

57:23 It took 57 minutes until they showed an Italian hottie in the stands. That is a crime.

55:38 A phantom call on Rooney. Maybe that is why the Roma player is called the Phantom of Olimpico. Rooney doesn’t say a word. Maybe he needs to get pissed to get on track.

55:00 De Rossi with a turn and a shot that is way off the target. He slipped on the strike. Ten minutes in and Man U is holding on.

53:28 Perrotta with a lousy finish as Roma continues to press forward. Perrotta hasn’t had the best of games for a Roma side that has otherwise played very well.

52:47 It is a good thing that Rooney doesn’t get paid per Champions League goal. He would be as broke as I am. Manchester United corner taken after some pushing in the box. Carrick hits it high and off the mark.

50:12 Roma continue to march down the field with six or seven players at a time. A cross into the box is headed out. This could be a long second half for Manchester United fans who are praying that it doesn’t get any worse than this.

48:42 Totti with a clean strike from far out and he rips into it. Just over the bar. That would have been a pretty one.

48:21 A good shot of the Roma coac looking constipated on the sidelines. His team continues to have the better run. Taddei takes a cross in the box and van der Sar is forced into a save.

46:51 Ronaldo does his crossover shuffle and doesn’t end up on the turf for once. It is a joy watching Roma’s build up to the attack. A joy unless you are a Man U fan.

45:12 No changes to either team. Much to our chagrin Sir Alex didn’t have the balls to put in Dong.

45:01 We’re back underway from Rome, actually we are underway from my office but let’s all pretend we are at the Stadio Olimpico. Thanks for stopping by and joining me. Manchester United have their work cut out for them. They are a man down and a goal down and they might be lucky to keep it that way. Can they come back or will this be Roma’s night to shine? We will find out in the next 45 minutes.

Fan violence Trouble in the crowd with Manchester United fans getting whacked by some of the local security folks. Sad news to hear no matter the cause.

Halftime After 45 minutes of play it is Roma 1-0. They controlled the first half and put Manchester United on their heels from the start. Paul Scholes was sent off after picking up two yellow cards and Rodrigo Taddei’s late goal is the difference. I’ll be back for the second half. Your thoughts thus far?

44:12 The shot from Taddei was in the box and deflected off of Heinze into the Manchester United goal. Roma likely to continue to apply the pressure in the second half. This is turning out to be very interesting.

43:23 Taddei with a blast from far out and van der Sar has to extend to save it. GOALLLLLL!!!! Roma with a deflection goallll!!! Taddei claims it.

41:25 Perrotta with a nifty little dive in the box and he is shown a yellow. He is out for the second leg and deserves to be out.

40:00 I’m fairly convinced that Roma has two or three players named Totti. He always seem to be the target. Shall be interesting to see what changes Sir Alex makes at the half. I’m not sure he can keep this current team out there with a man down.

37:56 More players should wear face masks. Less players should wear rat tails. More coaches should have shiny heads. Man U has settled down after the Scholes sending off.

36:47 When Totti gets the ball Wes Brown looks like he shits his pants. Man U might be better off with Scholes tonight, but that backline is still sketchy tonight. Ronaldo tackled down, again.

35:56 Hard to imagine that Roma could attack more but now that they are a man up they are really going to give it a go. What was Scholes thinking? He is experienced enough to know better than to play like that.

33:12 Corner for Manchester United. Giggs to take it with his left foot. Does he even have a right foot? It is crossed in and punched away. Totti on the ball again and he is mugged by Scholes. He is booked again. He is gone. Red Card Paul Scholes

32:12 That is one Rooney curse but it is not at a ref but rather at his teammates who are doing a lousy job of finding him. Totti on the other hand is finding the ball for himself and he gets a shot on goal that is handled by van de Sar.

30:00 The corner amounts to nothing thanks to a Heinze penalty. Roma back on the attack. They play some attractive football. Quick corner is cleared away.

28:43 Ronaldo tackled down and he hits the turf. The fre kick is from out wide with Giggs taking it. Nicely played and it is knocked out for a Man U corner.

28:32 Totti is on good form. Much better than during the World Cup. Even possession time so far but Roma with five shots on goal and Man U with just one.

26:00 Roma continues to have the better of the play. Totti working hard to get free on the wing. The referee doing a good job so far controlling the game without getting in the way. Sir Alex up off the bench questioning the meaning of life. The Roma coach up off the bench questioning his bald head. Scholes given a yellow card. He is gone for the second leg. That might be a good thing the way he is playing tonight.

23:04 Free kick taken by Totti and it goes right into the wall. Not the best effort from Totti. Wes Brown on the losing end of a smacked ball.

21:51 Shot of Man U fans who apparently were not killed in Rome after all. Wes Brown is an accident waiting to happen. Another free kick for Roma, this one just outside the box.

21:06 Gratuitous shot of man blowing his nose in the stands. So far a yawn and a nose blow. Let’s at least get to see a vomit!

20:10 Carrick hits Rooney near the box but he can’t control it and Roma’s keeper swallows it up.

20:00 Roma with four shots on goal, Man U with one. Roma the more attacking of the two. Some of these Roma players make my hair hurt. They are that pretty.

18:23 With Ronaldo playing more in the middle tonight he is getting eaten alive by Roma players. Every time he has it there are three around him. Mancini on the ground holding something. Maybe it is an appendix.

16:32 Rooney sent free on the wing. He crosses and there is no one there to do any damage. Chivu is everywhere for Roma. It must be the face mask.

14:47 Ronaldo goes through three players and hits the turf. Play on said the German ref only he probably said it in German. The crowd shot shows a woman yawning. Excuse me, but how could you yawn while in that stadium?

13:45 Another free kick for Roma. Chivu and Totti are over the ball. Totti burns it on the ground and it is eaten up by the Man U keeper.

12:12 The Roma keeper Doni looks to be about 12 years old. Wait until he hits puberty. He will be a stud. Still scoreless. Still little seen from Wayne Rooney.

11:01 Ronaldo has his pocket picked and Roma gets a corner. Roma continue to apply the pressure. Man U’s backline seems a bit too eager to give the ball away.

10:23 Mexes doesn’t fall for C-Ron’s moves and takes the ball from him. The Rat Tail is sent down the wing for Roma but it is too long. Both teams seem like they are interested in scoring so this could be a good one.

8:12 Chivu’s nickname is the Phantom of the Olimpico. They call me the Phantom of the LiveBlog. Or at least they will after today’s game. Man U has settled down and we are seeing a back and forth game.

6:29 Taddei carted off on a golf cart that I think honked its horn. Play restarts and I think everyone will survive.

5:20 Early on it looks like Roma ate their breakfast and Manchester United did not. CR7 on the ground for the first time tonight. It won’t be the last. Taddei dinked up with C-Ron.

4:12 Roma with a free kick from straight on. Totti lines up over the ball 30 m out. It is struck by Chivu who cranks it just over the bar. Would have been in if on goal.

2:44 O’Shea with a dodgy ball back to van de Saar and Roma continue to attack. They are trying to get a blow early on and Man U looks ready to help them out.

2:01 First touch by Wayne Rooney and he is loudly whistled as the ball goes out of bounds. The crowd singing in fine form.

:12 Early corner taking by Roma and they have Man U on their back heels. Oh no, already a close up of Wilhelmsson’s rat tail. My eyes!

Kickoff We’re underway from Rome for the Champions League quartefinals match between Roman and Manchester United. Thanks for stopping by to join me. Keep your comments clean, have fun and enjoy what will hopefully be a cracker of a game.

2 minutes to go The players are lined up in the tunnel. The Red Devils are wearing white and black. Roma is in their maroon and orange. Bad color combination if you ask me. The referee is in yellow. A roma player has a facemask like Hannibal Lecter. That is Chivu with the mask.

5 minutes to go Wayne Rooney hasn’t scored in the Champions League since 2004. Will tonight be his time to get on track? We’ll find out. As Brian in the comments pointed out, the over/under on the number of times Rooney swears at the referee is six. I’m picking over. Meanwhile, much was made this week about Sir Alex supposedly dissing Totti. I love media created drama. It will mean nothing tonight. Totti is a stud and Man U knows that. End of story.

10 minutes to go The Stadio Olimpico is looking in fine form with 75,000 crazies in attendance. The referee for today’s match is a German, Herbert Frandel. Let’s hope that he plays no factor in this contest. Here’s an interesting stat about the two managers. Roma’s Luciano Spalletti has one trophy to his name. It came from winning Serie C. Sir Alex Ferguson has 29 trophies in his case. Neither of them are strapping on the boots and playing today, although that would make things fun.

15 minutes to go The Champions League anthem is played, the goose bumps are out, the ESPN announcers are coming through loud and clear, and my fingers are ready to type. This is an intriguing contest. Man. U has been next to impossible to beat this year. Roma have managed to get results in Serie A and in Europe. The two teams have never met before. I have a hunch this is going to be a good tilt. It should certainly be closer than yesteday’s Livepool-PSV game.

Teams – The starting lineups are largely according to plan. Man U continues to have injuries problems and will start Ryan Giggs next to Wayne Rooney freeing up a midfield spot for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. For Roma, Marco Cassetti fills in for the injured left back Max Tonetto. David Pizarro is suspended for the match.

Roma: Doni; Marco Cassetti, Cristian Chivu, Philippe Mexes, Christian Panucci; Simone Perrotta, Daniele De Rossi; Taddei, Christian Wilhelmsson, Mancini; Francesco Totti.

United: Edwin van der Sar; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, John O’Shea, Gabriel Heinze; Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney.

Pre-game: Another day, another opportunity to abandon work to watch some midweek football. Life can be beautiful sometimes. Today we have an interesting match between AS Roma and Manchester United from the Stadio Olimpico. This is the first time that Roma has made it to the Champions League quarterfinals. Manchester United has been here before and has won the competition twice, the last time back in 1999. Sit back, relax and fire away your comments as we enjoy a midweek treat together.