Roma vs Chelsea

As soon as I saw the score for the first game between the two at Stamford bridge, I knew that the second was going to be eventful. Full of goals, drama and poor defending, this is my match report on proceedings...

After an enthralling first meeting between these sides at Stanford Bridge, to say the outcome of this match was unpredictable would be an understatement with both sides evidently so capable of scoring goals. Right from the start of the match, we could see it was going to be a cracker...

And what a start to the game as all in the first minute of the game, we get not only a Chelsea chance, but a Roma goal. Firstly as a decent ball from new boy Bakayoko finds Pedro who tries to burst through only for the end product to be weak as the keeper easily collects. However straight from that Allison the Roma keeper finds Kolarov who plays a superb ball to Dzeko who seemingly unintentionally lays it back to the edge of the box to El Shaarawy who expertly fires home with the outside of this boot, first time, into the top corner of the far left post. An incredible start to what looks like will be an incredible game

Only minutes later, Chelsea have another half decent opportunity as a well-flighted ball from Fabregas over the top of the Roma defence finds Hazard who's through, however the Belgian gets the ball stuck under his feet and his tame shot is saved by Alisson.

From then on, it was a fairly even game as Chelsea began to find their feet in Rome. However the chances they did muster, they had to take. With Hazard going on a few lively runs but shooting straight at Alisson and a glorious opportunity for Morata only for the Spaniard to blast over from close range, Chelsea certainly had chances. However they failed to take them and were punished. After a hopeful ball was played over by Nainggolan looking for El Shaarawy, former Roma defender Rudiger stupidly left the ball as he thought the path to his keeper Courtois was free. This then lead to El Shaarawy rushing in and poking past the Belgian keeper. 2-0 to Roma and Chelsea, in this case, the cause of their own downfall.

However moments later, another Chelsea new boy had a delightful opportunity as a perfectly flighted corner from Fabregas found Bakayoko who leaped to almost a free header, but directed it just wide. Unlucky from Bakayoko but you would've expected him to score.

Then came halftime in what has been an excellent game of football with multiple chances coming at both ends however it has been Roma who have taken the most with everyone certainly looking forward to seeing what unfolds in the second half.

And although little happened in terms of clear cut chances at the start of the second half, just after the 60th minute Roma emphasised their clinicalness as they made it three. When Cesc Fabregas gave the ball away sloppily to who else but Alexander Kolarov, he drove forward playing it to Dzeko who flicked it quickly to Perotti. Perotti then driving inwards from the left, shot from around 25 yards out and found the inside of the near post expertly as he incredibly, and deservedly, puts Roma 3-0 up against the English Champions.

Even more worryingly for the Blues, it could've easily been four for the home side. After an excellent ball over from Strootman to Dzeko drew every Chelsea defender back towards the ball, he easily held up the ball and played it to a completely open Perotti on the left hand side, however he only proceeded to blaze it over. Massive opportunity to further increase their goal difference, and Chelsea's woes.

Even after that chance, Roma could've once again scored a few more with Nainggolan heavily involved. After the Belgian's shot was well saved by Courtois and the ball went out for a corner, from the resulting corner the ball eventually feel back to Nainggolan who whipped in a stunning ball from the right, straight onto Manolas' head, only for his header to be excellently saved by Courtois to both his and the Roma players' surprise. Although despite it being an excellent save, it was still relatively central and either side of Courtois and it was definitely four for Roma.

There and then came full-time, thankfully for Chelsea and their fans who were embarrased on the night. For Roma however they would've wanted the match to go on for ages as they seemed to find it worryingly easy to break down an honestly woeful Chelsea side as they could've easily scored upwards of five. An off night to say the least for Chelsea with a severe lack of defensive organisation especially being their downfall, something Conte sides are normally known for. Safe to say they'll want to forget about this game as soon as possible.

MOTM: Stephan El Shaarawy

I don't know who else I could've picked for this as Stephan El Shaarawy was definitely the standout performer on the night scoring an excellent first goal and capitalising on a mistake to add a second. Despite being subbed off in the 75th minute, the Italian set the pace for the game and scored the goal of the game in doing so.