Champions League: Roma 2 Shakhtar Donetsk 3

Shakhtar Donetsk are in the box seat to make the Champions League quarter-finals after a 3-2 away win against Roma on Wednesday.

Roma took a 28th-minute lead through Simone Perrotta, but the Ukrainian side hit straight back and produced three goals in a 13-minute burst to see them head back to Donetsk with the advantage.

Claudio Ranieri’s side will have their work cut out trying to win in Ukraine, with Skakhtar unbeaten in their last 53 matches in all competitions at home. Their last loss at the Donbass Arena came in October 2008.

After successive Serie A defeats to Napoli and Inter Milan, Ranieri’s side came out firing and dominated the early stages of the contest.

Nicolas Burdisso and Mirko Vucinic went close to scoring before Roma took a deserved lead through Perotta, who nodded Rodrigo Taddei’s cross into the back of the net with Shakhtar defender Razvan Rat getting the last touch.

But the celebrations did not last long as Jadson’s right-foot shot from 18 yards took a wicked deflection off Daniele De Rossi, leaving Roma goalkeeper Doni stranded.

The goal spurred Shakhtar on and Jadson was again involved when the Ukraine side scored its second, finding countryman Douglas Costa who hit a curling left-foot strike from the edge of the area.

Things got even worse for Roma on 41 minutes when left-back John Arne Riise slipped on the touchline while he had the ball.

Riise’s mistake allowed Douglas Costa to steal the ball, and the Brazilian took his time before picking out compatriot Luiz Adriano to sidefoot into the back of the net.

The goal capped a horrendous spell for Roma and the hosts certainly knew what the crowd thought of their performance, with Ranieri’s men booed by the Stadio Olimpico fans as they entered the field for the second half.

But as they did in the first half, Roma began strongly and Frenchman Jeremy Menez scored a splendid goal to bring his side back into contention just after the hour mark.

Menez beat Jadson for the ball in a show of strength before streaming forward and producing a sensational strike into the top right corner from 25 yards.

Shakhtar continued to search for a fourth as Luiz Adriano and Henrikh Mkhitaryan went close, while Roma also had a chance to score but Andriy Pyatov kept out Francesco Totti’s late effort.

The visitors held on for the victory – their first in the last 16 of the Champions League – and the 2008/09 UEFA Cup winners can feel confident of reaching the quarter-finals given their brilliant home record.