Chelsea's Terry ends Roma resistance

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October 23, 2008 10:27 IST

John Terry came to Chelsea's rescue on Wednesday when he powered home a 77th-minute header to secure a 1-0 home win over a dogged AS Roma in a tight Champions League Group A game.

- Images from Wednesday's matches

The captain rose to firmly glance in a Frank Lampard corner and put the Londoners in command of the group on seven points from three games. Cluj have four with Roma and Bordeaux both on three.

Until the goal a stubborn Roma, who had been thrashed 4-0 by Inter Milan in Serie A at the weekend, held out with few problems against a team who had been scoring for fun in the Premier League.

The nearest either side came to a goal in the first half was when Lampard clipped the angle of the bar and post with a 20-metre effort after 23 minutes.

Neither keeper was required to make anything but routine stops until Doni had to get down to smother a Salomon Kalou header after an hour.

The halftime introduction of Juliano Belletti for the ineffective Florent Malouda added some urgency to Chelsea's build-up but the crowd were getting edgy as the click ticked on.

Then Terry, who has been struggling with a back injury in recent weeks, produced another determined run to secure a goal that should ease last season's runners-up into the knockout phase.

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