AS Roma 0-3

Telegraph:

Roma 3 Chelsea 0: Antonio Conte's return to Italy spoiled by wasteful, woeful performance

Matt Law

This one will have hurt Antonio Conte more than the rest. The  Italian is a notoriously bad loser, but this defeat, on his first return to his home country since stepping down as national team manager, will have badly dented his pride.

Conte has built his reputation as one of the most admired coaches in Europe on organisation and solid defending, but Chelsea displayed neither as goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Diego Perotti secured Roma’s victory and prevented the Stamford Bridge side from clinching qualification from Group C.

And Conte was as much to blame as his players, who switched off at key moments, as Chelsea’s head coach got his big decisions wrong. He stuck with Antonio Rudiger, who suffered a nightmare return to his former club, watched Cesc  Fabregas and Tiemoue Bakayoko get overrun and was punished for moving Pedro to right-back in the second half.

The fact Atletico Madrid were held by Qarabag, leaving Chelsea in a good position to qualify for the knockout stages, will be scant  consolation for Conte, whose team simply fell apart in Rome.

Their performance was summed up by a comical scene when they were already trailing by three goals. Rudiger, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta all stood in a line to try to stop the superb Edin Dzeko,  allowing the striker to shift the ball over to Perotti.

The striker was off target on that particular occasion, but Chelsea looked anything but a Conte team with their schoolboy defending.

Ahead of the first match between these two teams at Stamford Bridge, Conte had said that it would give him “goosebumps” to go up against his former Italy national team trio of Alessandro Florenzi, Daniele De Rossi and El Shaarawy again.

The threesome were named on the substitutes’ bench in London, but all started in Rome and El Shaarawy took just 38 seconds to catch Chelsea and Conte cold.

Former Manchester City duo Aleksandar Kolarov and Dzeko, who both scored in the 3-3 draw at Chelsea, combined and the ball bounced off the striker’s head into the path of El Shaarawy, who smashed it first time past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

It was the fastest Champions League goal in Roma’s history and the worst possible start for Chelsea, who were once again missing N’Golo Kante. The midfielder was deemed not fit enough to even take a place on the bench, following a late check on his hamstring.

Conte resisted the temptation to further bolster his midfield in Kante’s continued absence, as Danny Drinkwater started on the bench and Fabregas and Bakayoko were asked to marshal the centre of the park between them.

Fabregas was making his 100th Champions League appearance and fashioned a chance from which Chelsea almost levelled in just the fourth minute.

The Spaniard sent Eden Hazard through on goal but, under pressure, the Belgian allowed Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker to get down to save his low shot.

Just as the 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge had been, the game was open and frenetic with both sides looking vulnerable at the back.

An inviting high cross from  Marcos Alonso was missed by  everyone and Hazard had a shot on the turn well saved by Becker in the 24th minute.

Moments later, Alvaro Morata missed a glorious chance to break his five-game run without a goal by lifting the ball over the crossbar from close range after Pedro had blocked an attempted clearance.

Chelsea’s record signing had got himself into a muddle over whether or not he likes London ahead of this game and his finish from inside the six-yard box was just as uncertain.

Having seen his side fall behind so early, Conte spent the entire first half on the edge of his technical area, barking instructions to his players and signalling where each pass should be sent.

Conte was grateful that Courtois saved with his feet after a mistake from Luiz allowed Dzeko to play in El Shaarawy, who would have  expected to have doubled his and Roma’s tally.

But El Shaarawy soon got over that missed chance as he did extend the home side’s advantage nine minutes before half-time and it was a goal ex-Roma defender Rudiger will not want to see again.

Conte had kept Rudiger in his back three, despite bringing back captain Gary Cahill, but the German was badly at fault in his old home.

Radja Nainggolan’s hopeful pass forwards should have been easily cut out, but Rudiger allowed the ball to bounce past him and El Shaarawy made no mistake to find the back of the net.

Chelsea desperately tried to gain a foothold in the game before the break, as Alonso curled a shot  towards the Roma goal that Becker reached to tip wide. From the  resulting corner, Bakayoko headed a wonderful chance wide and the visitors trudged in for what  presumably would have been a half-time rocket from Conte.

Conte opted against any half-time changes, but quickly decided on a reshuffle after Dzeko had shot narrowly over after collecting a pass from El Shaarawy.

Willian replaced Cahill to give Chelsea more attacking options, but the decision to ask Pedro to move back and play as a makeshift right-back backfired spectacularly. Just seven minutes after the change, Fabregas gave the ball away and Perotti easily rounded Pedro before rifling a superb shot past Courtois and killing the game.

Perotti then fired over and Courtois had to pull off a stunning save to prevent substitute Kostas Manolas making Chelsea’s pain even worse.

This definitely was a night to  forget, but it may take some getting over for Conte.



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Guardian:

Roma feast on Chelsea’s frailties to give Antonio Conte further headaches

Roma 3 - 0 Chelsea

Dominic Fifield at the Stadio Olimpico

Antonio Conte’s homecoming was not supposed to descend into a humiliation.

He must have privately relished bringing his English champions, such a well-drilled outfit last season, back to Italy in the hope they would impose themselves in an arena where, on his last visit, he had been overseeing the Azzurri. Yet everything about this return to Rome was nightmarish, with Chelsea shredded at the back and profligate up front. Leadership of this section has been lost but, more significantly, this team feels damaged. They have rarely performed so chaotically.

The only consolation, and it will feel considerable in the cold light of day, was Atlético Madrid’s failure to overcome Qarabag’s 10 men in Spain, which means a win in Baku at the end of November will still secure progress into the knockout phase. Yet, rather than fret over the machinations of Group C, Conte’s priority must be recovering confidence for Manchester United’s visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Defend as poorly as they did against Roma and, even if José Mourinho is thinking safety first, the visitors will sense plunder.

Plenty will point to the summer sale of Nemanja Matic to United as reason for Chelsea’s sudden vulnerability. More pressing at present, of course, is N’Golo Kanté’s absence. Conte and his medical staff had deemed it would be “stupid to risk” selecting the Frenchman at the Stadio Olimpico with his recovery from hamstring trouble still not properly complete. They missed his instincts in defensive midfield yet again here – this team have conceded 11 goals in the six matches he has missed, with only one clean sheet en route – with too many players across Chelsea’s midfield and forward line carrying wear or aching limbs to compensate. Even so, their rearguard should have offered more resistance than this.

They were overwhelmed, punctured after 38 seconds and tormented thereafter by Edin Dzeko’s brawn and clever movement, and the slippery pace of Diego Perotti and Stephan El Shaarawy on the counter. Conte had tried to rejig things, moving Gary Cahill to the right of his back three, then hauling off his captain before the hour-mark and even employing Pedro as a right wing-back, but fragility persisted. Perotti’s third was skimmed low from distance after Cesc Fàbregas surrendered the ball and Pedro had merely dangled a leg in an attempt to block the forward’s burst, yet it was an opportunity moments later that truly summed up this mess of a performance.

Another counterattack had Chelsea exposed with all three centre-halves drawn to Dzeko in possession as he approached the edge of the penalty area. The Bosnian merely checked back, with Antonio Rüdiger, David Luiz and César Azpilicueta in a neat line pointing at goal but all horribly off balance, and slid a diagonal pass across the box to the unmarked Perotti. The forward skied his shot over the bar, but the visitors had been split apart.

It would take Thibaut Courtois’ fine instinctive save from Kostas Manolas to avoid a four-goal drubbing. Regardless, Chelsea departed Italy chastened as the first English team beaten in this season’s competition, and with much to ponder before the weekend.

They were never comfortable, having been breached with the game in its infancy, the back-line perhaps still adjusting as Aleksandar Kolarov flung over a cross from the left. Dzeko, in between David Luiz and Rüdiger, improvised a lay-off via head and shoulder with the ball dropping in to space just outside the area, territory that might normally be patrolled by Kanté. While Marcos Alonso dawdled, El Shaarawy sprinted through on the wing-back’s inside and dispatched a first-time shot with the outside of his right foot that careered beyond Courtois. Roma have never registered a quicker goal in this competition.

Conte had relished coaxing the best from El Shaarawy with the national team, but here he was a rival running riot. The forward should have added a second just after the half-hour mark, bursting on to another Dzeko pass after David Luiz had surrendered the ball carelessly. Courtois blocked that attempt with his feet, but the respite was brief. Within a minute, Radja Nainggolan centred from the left and Rüdiger, unaware that El Shaarawy had a run on Azpilicueta’s inside at his back, chose not to intercept. The Italy forward could not believe his luck and simply guided the ball beyond a static Courtois.

What made Chelsea’s frustration all the more acute was that, as an attacking force, they had actually posed a threat in that opening period.

Alisson had denied Eden Hazard three times before the break, as well as turning away Alonso’s curled attempt. More wasteful for the visitors were the misses from Álvaro Morata, an anxious attempt in front of goal after Pedro had blocked a clearance, and Tiémoué Bakayoko planting a free header wide from Fàbregas’s corner, where the Brazilian goalkeeper would have stood no chance.

Yet that failure to register knocked the stuffing from their display, with everything that followed “a disappointment” for the crestfallen Conte. Time is limited in which to conjure a recovery. This season is already taking its toll.


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Mail:

Roma 3-0 Chelsea: Antonio Conte suffers haunting return to Italy as Stephan El Shaarawy double and Diego Perotti strike sinks Premier League champions

By Matt Barlow

Antonio Conte fiddled but Roma were on fire and Chelsea picked a fine time to spontaneously combust. This was not what Conte had in mind on his first competitive return to the Italian capital.

His team were a goal down in 38 seconds, two down by half-time and trailing by three early in the second-half.

The final score might easily have been more of an embarrassment had it not been for some fine saves by Thibaut Courtois.

Stephan El Shaarawy scored the first two, both brilliantly finished yet so poorly defended by Chelsea, who simply could not contain the threat of Edin Dzeko for the second time in this European campaign.

There are injuries in key areas of the squad eating away but it is hard to equate this display with the unit Conte had so well-drilled last season.

From the first minute to the last they were devoid of shape and composure at the back and poorly protected in midfield.

For good measure, they were wasteful up front but defensively they were brutally exposed by Roma who have plundered six in 180 minutes against Chelsea.

Diego Perotti grabbed the third before missing the clearest chance of the game, firing over when totally unmarked in front of goal.

Courtois stopped Roma running riot, including one fabulous reflex save to deny Kostas Manolas from close range. It was so good that Manolas shook the goalkeeper by the hand.

Chelsea remain well placed to qualify the last 16, mainly thanks to Atletico Madrid's inability to beat Qarabag, the unfancied minnows from Azerbaijan.

'The second-half was really bad,' said Conte. 'Roma showed more desire to first and win the game. I am disappointed for our second half. We all have to take the responsibility.

'When you concede three goals you need to be worried because it means something doesn't work. It's very difficult to tell what this is but for sure we have analyse the game and we need to work on the tactical aspect.'

But their careless habits at the back will infuriate Conte's attempt at another defensive shuffle, swapping Gary Cahill to the right and Antonio Rudiger to the left and moving Cesar Azpilicueta to wing-back, again, soon backfired.

They failed to cope with Roma's first attack of the game, a long diagonal pass from Aleksandar Kolarov to Dzeko.

Dzeko could not make the contact he wanted as he twisted in the air but still managed to nod the ball into the path of El Shaarawy who applied a searing strike with the outside of his right boot.

Francesco Totti, gazing down in imperial fashion from the VIP seats, would have approved. After their performance at Stamford Bridge, there was an air of confidence about Eusebio di Francesco's team.

Clearly, they thought Chelsea were there to be got at and here was further evidence. Without Azpilicueta in the back three and N'Golo Kante in midfield the Premier League champions are not nearly as solid as they can be.

Kante has been out for nearly a month with a hamstring injury sustained on international duty with France. He has been back in training since Friday and travelled with the squad to Rome but he was not even on the bench.

'It's not right to push,' said Conte. 'The player must have the right feeling.'

His continued absence meant Tiemoue Bakayoko was in tandem in the centre of midfield with Cesc Fabregas, who was making his 100th Champions League appearance.

At the back, they were vulnerable, often hustled into mistakes on the ball in dangerous areas when Roma chose to exert pressure but at least in the first-half Conte's team carried a threat when they went forward.

Eden Hazard, released by Fabregas, squandered a terrific chance to level soon after the opener but his finish was tame. Certainly, it did not match the electric burst of speed which took him away from the back four and his effort was easily saved by Alisson.

Twice in quick succession Hazard forced Alisson to make low saves and Alvaro Morata missed the target as he tried to clear the Brazilian 'keeper after Pedro charged down an attempted clearance from Kolarov.

Chelsea's gathering momentum stalled when Hazard was hurt by Alessandro Florenzi stepping on his heel from behind. The stoppage was soon followed by a lapse in concentration from David Luiz as he tried to control a high ball.

Courtois made the save, blocking from El Shaarawy and cleared the corner which followed but the Londoners were still out of sorts when Radja Nainggolan tested their defensive capabilities with another long pass from the left.

Rudiger seemed set to tidy it up but dithered and allowed it to bounce, while Azpilicueta was beaten in a sprint by El Shaarawy, who poked at a shot with his right foot to beat Courtois.

Still, Chelsea enjoyed good chances to reduce the deficit. Alisson saved from Marcos Alonso and Bakayoko headed wide from a corner.

Early in the second half and Conte replaced captain Cahill with Willian. Cue more shuffling around but no sooner had Pedro shifted into the role of wing-back than Perotti glided inside and sent a third skidding past Courtois from the edge of the penalty area.

Chelsea's attacking threat faded after the break. They were on the back-foot, striving to keep the score down and Conte's substitutions did nothing to change that.

Back in the Italian capital, he came, he saw, he conceded three just as Luiz Felipe Scolari did when Chelsea were beaten here 3-1 nine years ago. And he flew home with some serious work to do before Manchester United on Sunday.

Roma (4-3-3): Alisson 6.5; Florenzi 5.5 (Manolas 76), Fazio 6, Juan Jesus 6, Kolarov 6.5; Nainggolan 6.5, De Rossi 7, Strootman 6; El Shaarawy 8 (Gerson 75), Dzeko 7.5, Perotti 7 (Pellegrini 87)

Subs not used: Skorupski, Moreno, Under, Gonalons

Goalscorers: El Shaarawy 1, 36, Perotti 63

Manager: Eusebio di Francesco 7


Chelsea (3-4-3): Courtois 7; Cahill 5 (Willian 56, 5), Luiz 5, Rudiger 5; Azpilicueta 5, Fabregas 5.5 (Drinkwater 71, 5), Bakayoko 5, Alonso 5; Pedro 6, Morata 5 (Batshuayi 75), Hazard 6.5

Subs not used: Caballero, Kenedy, Zappacosta, Christensen

Manager: Antonio Conte 6

Referee: Jonas Eriksson 6

Attendance: 55,036


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Independent:

Chelsea horror show as rampant Roma outclass Antonio Conte's visitors in Champions League clash

Roma 3 Chelsea 0: The Blues were put to the sword by their hosts who were far sharper and composed in possession

Miguel Delaney

Many unhappy returns. On his first ever match back in Italy as a visiting manager, Antonio Conte suffered his joint-worst defeat as Chelsea manager, as they were smashed 3-0 by a rampant Roma in a dismal performance that will give him an awful lot to ponder.

It was also a first defeat for an English side in Europe this season, but could really have been a whole lot worse, especially as they also got a huge let-off due to events in Spain. Atletico Madrid could only draw 1-1 at home against 10-man Qarabag, meaning Chelsea will actually qualify with a win in Baku in the next match. They will have to considerably improve on this shambles, though, especially with Manchester United to come on Sunday.

Even if the night was not that bad due to Atletico's result, this match itself was awful for Chelsea from start to finish.

The supreme Stephan El Shaarawy scored the opening goal after just 39 seconds, and if that spectacular strike was admittedly the best moment of the game, it just got worse and worse for Chelsea. Antonio Rudiger was also back at his former home, but seemed as if on unfamiliar ground, as he didn’t know where he was in stepping up on 37 minutes to let El Shaarawy in for the second. He was far from the only player culpable, and that might not have even been the worst error for the game, as calamity ran right through the team. They just looked tired, and thereby suffered a torrid evening.

Alvaro Morata was ineffective up front, Eden Hazard was inefficient and the midfield of Tiemoue Bakayoko and Cesc Fabregas was again totally overrun. How they miss N’Golo Kante, although that still shouldn’t explain how Fabregas so sloppily missed a tackle for when Diego Perotti scored a brilliant third on 63 minutes.

The disarray that they had descended into was perhaps best displayed moments after that, though, when three Chelsea players somehow trailed man-of-the-match Edin Dzeko as he burst through on goal to leave Perotti totally unmarked.

He somehow missed, and that was just one reason that Conte somehow wasn’t subjected to his worst ever defeat. It might well have been Chelsea’s worst ever performance under him. It really was that poor.

The oddity was that the game had started as if it might match the helter-skelter mayhem of the 3-3 two weeks as Pedro went through on goal almost immediately, but it was really only Roma that were able to keep up that pace. They after all got the same three goals, as Chelsea got nothing, and really did nothing.

They certainly couldn’t match Roma once El Shaarawy had properly set the pace, with that blistering opening goal straight after Pedro’s stumble.

Aleksandar Kolarov played with a quick pass from the left for his former Manchester City teammate Edin Dzeko, he headed back to the area just in front of the centre of the 18-yard box and El Shaaraway ran onto it to fire a first-time shot into the top corner.

The one curiosity to the game was that Conte had seemed to have spotted a weakness in Roma, as Chelsea repeatedly looked like they might get in behind that backline with calculated balls over the top, but the concern was that they couldn’t act on this or execute anything properly.

There was just a raggedness to their play and general execution, like when Cesar Azpilicueta let the ball roll under his foot for a throw when in a promising position, or when Hazard kept hitting the ball straight at Allison in the Roma goal after putting himself into good shooting positions.

It was like that all over the pitch, and wasn’t long until it told at the other end of the pitch.

On 37 minutes, former Chelsea target Radja Nainggolan played a hopeful ball into the centre of the goal. It should have been easy for Rudiger to deal with it, but he inexplicably let the ball go, allowing El Shaarawy to so slickly slip the ball past Courtois with another one-touch finish - if of course a deftly different one.

While it was El Shaaraway who had fired the ball into the net, it was Dzeko who was firing at a level above anyone else on the pitch. He was everywhere, both creating chances for others and driving efforts at goal himself, looking as good as he’s ever been. There was one moment in the second half where he delightfully touched a dropping ball back up into air, before playing a volleyed pass in a fine flowing movement.

The force of his play was all the more striking because there was such a contrast at the other end. Morata just didn’t look fully fit, and his only efforts on goal were feeble.

It was no surprise when he was eventually taken off as Conte continued to try and arrest the situation with drastic moves like bringing on Willian for Gary Cahill, but still less surprise when Roma added to their lead.

They were just that much sharper. Perotti just looked to be performing at a different level to Fabregas as he so easily skipped by him on 63 minutes, and drove the ball into the bottom corner from distance.

It was shortly after that the Chelsea defence descended into something out of a black-and-white comedy, with that panicked chase for Dzeko, as he and Roma continued to add vivid technicolour to their game. Only Thibaut Courtois could be proud of what he did, as he pulled off a brilliant save from substitute Kostas Manolas to prevent this being a proper rout on the scoreboard. It was already a rout in terms of performance, though.

It is just such a let-off that it still somehow doesn’t look that bad on the actual group table.


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Express:

Roma 3 - Chelsea 0: El Shaarawy double inspires Serie A giants to top of Group C

ANTONIO CONTE suffered a nightmare on his return to Italy – but he only has himself to blame for Chelsea’s calamitous defending.

By TONY PASKIN

The Blues manager has made so many changes to his defence this season he is becoming a new Tinkerman – and it came back to haunt him.

Recalling Gary Cahill and playing him on the right of a back three threw Chelsea’s usually secure unit right out of kilter and Roma punished them savagely.

Stephan El Shaarawy scored the first after just 38 seconds, the first time the Blues have conceded in the opening minute of a game in four years.

El Shaarawy then hit a second before Diego Perotti struck the third in the 63rd minute.

There were mistakes at the back for every goal, and in truth it could have been worse.

Roma gave Chelsea a real scare at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago and the Italians were quickly at it again here.

In a blistering start it was actually the visitors who almost struck first, Pedro wasting a clear-cut opportunity after being played in by Tiemoue Bakayoko.

But seconds later, and with a full minute yet to be played, Roma broke and snatched the lead.

At the Bridge it was former Manchester City pair Edin Dzeko and Aleksandar Kolarov who did all the damage and they were up to their old tricks again.

Kolarov bombed down the left and swung in a cross which Dzeko, under no pressure whatsoever from former Roma defender Antonio Rudiger, flicked it back into the danger zone.

From then it was all about El Shaarawy’s finish, a real screamer from 20 yards which absolutely flew past poor Thibaut Courtois.

More evidence perhaps that Chelsea were missing N’Golo Kante, who didn’t even make the squad despite training in the build-up.

Conte revealed before kick-off he felt it would be “stupid to risk” Kante’s hamstring injury with Sunday’s visit of Manchester United looming - althought the midfielder is now also likely to miss that game.

In-form Eden Hazard almost hit back immediately after being played in by Cesc Fabregas, but his shot was weak and easily saved by Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Hazard wrigged clear again to see another shot saved before Alvaro Morata fluffed his lines with only the keeper to beat.

Kolarov’s attempted clearance rebounded right to him in front of goal off Pedro but the Spain star’s rushed shot sailed high over the crossbar.

Morata has not been the same since suffering a hamstring injury against Manchester City and missed two good chances in Chelsea’s 1-0 win at Bournemouth on Saturday too.

At the other end Courtois saved from El Shaarawy, but he couldn’t stop the Roma striker making it 2-0 moments later with Rudiger again asleep.

That left Chelsea doubly upset as Hazard had been the victim of a cynical, unpunished foul by Alessandro Florenzi, who stamped down the back of his Achilles, just beforehand.

After 11 minutes of the second half Conte had seen enough and made an attacking change, bringing off Cahill and throwing on Willian.

But Morata, who had struggled all night, fired wide from another good position. He had never scored before against Roma despite spending two years in Italy with Juventus.

As out of colour as he looked though, it was nothing to compared to that Chelsea defence, which conceded a third in the 63rd minute, and this time it was Perotti’s turn

He turned inside Fabregas and skinned him for pace before firing in another belter which beat Courtois at his near post to put Roma in complete control.

They have scored some truly stunning goals in their two games against Chelsea, but how often do you ever see a Blues team torn apart so easily by the same opposition?

It should have been four when Perotti blazed over after Dzeko attracted all three Chelsea defenders to him and then played his team-mate in.

Roma (4-3-3): Becker; Florenzi, Fazio, Jesus, Kolarov; Nainggolan, De Rossi, Strootman; El Shaarawy, Dzeko, Perotti.

Chelsea (3-4-3): Courtois; Rudiger, Luiz, Cahill; Azpilicueta, Fabregas, Bakayoko, Alonso; Pedro, Morata, Hazard.

Referee: J Eriksson (Sweden).


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