Terry breaks Roma´s resistance

John Terry shattered Roma's spirited resistance as the Chelsea captain's late goal clinched a hard-fought 1-0 win in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's side were frustrated for three quarters of a tense encounter, but Terry finally broke the deadlock with 13 minutes to play at Stamford Bridge.

Terry's first goal of the season couldn't have come at a more timely moment. Just as it seemed Chelsea would have to settle for a second successive goalless draw in Europe, the England defender intervened to keep the Blues top of Group A and firmly on course for a place in the second round.

Scolari had warned before the match that his team wouldn't always be able to win with the kind of flowing football that demolished Middlesbrough on Saturday.

The Brazilian insisted he was just as happy to win ugly as he was pleasing the purists. His team proved the point with the kind of gritty victory essential for any trophy-winning campaign.

Scolari received a pre-match boost as Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho returned ahead of schedule after a knee injury, while Deco was also back in the starting line-up.

Roma had failed to win in all but one of their previous visits to England and with Luciano Spalletti's side in crisis after a 4-0 thrashing by Inter Milan at the weekend, Chelsea were firm favourites to maintain their impressive start to the season.

The Blues started brightly enough and when Wayne Bridge's cross was only cleared to the edge of the penalty area, Frank Lampard drove in a half-volley that forced a fine save from Doni.

But Roma were clearly determined to restore some pride after their recent struggles and gave as good as they got.

John Obi Mikel tried to wrestle back the initiative for Chelsea with a surging run that Philippe Mexes ended with a cynical trip. Lampard almost made Mexes pay from the free-kick as his fierce strike grazed the crossbar.

That was as good as it got for Chelsea in the first half. Although Salomon Kalou tested Doni with a low strike, for once Scolari's side weren't getting it all their own way.

The Italians were mostly content just to frustrate Chelsea but they grew in confidence as the half wore on. It took a superb last-ditch tackle from Terry to deny Matteo Brighi after Francesco Totti's clever pass played in the midfielder.

After the record goal-spree across Europe on Tuesday, this was the kind of cagy affair that offered little in the way of thrills and spills.

With Deco having an off-day, Chelsea lacked any impetus and Scolari responded by sending on Juliano Belletti for Florent Malouda at half time to add bite to his midfield.

Carvalho caught Brighi with a sly elbow early in the second half that deserved at least a yellow card but didn't even earn a free-kick from Greek referee Kyros Vassaras.

There was little change to the pattern of the game after the break. Kalou brought Doni into action with a header from Lampard's free-kick, but the Roma keeper saved comfortably.

Kalou's tumble in the Roma area brought appeals for a penalty from the home fans but their pleas were made more in hope than expectation.

The sense of frustration around the Bridge didn't affect Chelsea however. They kept battering away at the Roma rearguard and finally got through in the 77th minute.

Lampard whipped in a corner to the near-post, where Terry timed his run perfectly to beat Mexes and Rodrigo Taddei to the ball and power his header past Doni.