7 March 2007, by Sean Gillen

Superb Roma stun Lyon in France

Lyon 0-2 Roma (Agg. 0-2)

French champions Lyon were sensationally dumped out of the Champions League by Roma after the Italian side produced a superb team performance to end the hosts’ five-year undefeated European home record.

First half goals from Francesco Totti and Mancini gave the Serie A side an unexpected victory over a disappointing Lyon side, and the result sees the Giallorossi qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time.

Roma had plenty to thank their Brazilian Doni for, however, as the Brazilian made several important saves during the match. The first came from Lyon’s earliest threat on goal, with compatriot Juninho forcing Doni to spill his dipping shot.

Most of Lyon’s threats came from set pieces in the first half, while Roma had a Daniel De Rossi goal ruled out for pushing, before Roma took the lead when Chivu’s excellent ball found Tonetto down the left and the defender crossed for Totti to head home.

Tiago heads over

Tiago started in midfield for Lyon, but the Portuguese could only head over when meeting a Juninho cross, before Roma doubled their advantage shortly before half time. Brazilian forward Mancini received a pass from Cassetti and beat Reveillere with a flurry of stepovers before firing into the top corner.

Lyon had little choice but to go for broke in the second half, with manager Gerard Houllier bringing on Sylvain Wiltord and Kim Kallstrom. The substitutions almost paid off when Tiago slid the ball through to Wiltord, but Doni was quick off his line to block the veteran forward.

The Roma goalkeeper would deny both Juninho and Kallstrom during a brief spell of Lyon pressure, but the visitors held out comfortably in the end to book their place in Friday’s draw for the last eight.

Houllier gracious in defeat

After the match, Lyon manager Gerard Houllier admitted that his side had been second best on the night: “Roma were the better side tonight. We made two defensive errors in the first half and they took their chances. I think the second goal was the end for us - it would have been difficult at 1-0 but at 2-0 it was nearly impossible.”

“The problem was that Roma were not only good defensively but also attacked quickly. But I’m a sportsman and they were better than us tonight. They are a brilliant team and I can’t have any regrets.”

Roma boss Luciano Spalletti said: “We showed great maturity - the players were perfect, in winning possession, going forward and being creative offensively. It was not only the defence that were good, against a team like Lyon the whole team must be on top of their game.”

“Not only has my own work over the last two years been shown tonight, but it’s also shown the work of the whole team over this time. We didn’t pay attention to their aggressive tactics, we stayed calm and organised.”

Lyon:
Coupet, Reveillere (Benzema 69), Squillaci, Cris, Abidal, Tiago, Diarra (Kallstrom 45), Juninho, Govou (Wiltord 45), Fred, Malouda
Yellow Cards: Tiago (57), Cris (63), Kallstrom (76), Fred (93)

Roma:
Doni, Cassetti, Mexes, Chivu, Tonetto, Taddei, De Rossi, Pizarro, Mancini (Faty 89), Perrotta, Totti
Yellow Cards: Perrotta (79), Pizarro (91)

Goals:
[0-1] Totti, 22
[0-2] Mancini, 44