CHAMPIONS LEAGUE/AS Roma ... 1 Arsenal ... 3: "Who's that guy with the number 14 on his back?" screamed an obviously distraught Roma stadium official, "They just can't stop him, can they?".
We would imagine that by the end of Arsenal's impressive win at the Olympic Stadium last night, the Roma official had worked out that the mysterious "number 14" was none other than elegant Frenchman Thierry Henry, scorer of all three Arsenal goals on a night when he emphatically underlined his world class status.
Henry had only three strikes on goal but he made them all tell with a vengeance, scoring from play, from a cross and finally with an exquisitely struck free kick.
In truth, Henry's greatest contribution had been his first goal in the sixth minute, an immediate reply to an opening Roma goal that might have set up a more self-assured side for a triumphant evening.
Perhaps Roma did not have the best of luck. It is true Francesco Totti had a shot saved on the line with the score at 1-1 on the half hour, and Uruguayan substitute Gianni Guigou was denied a probable penalty in the 64th minute, when the score was still 1-1.
Yet, in the end, Roma cannot complain. The formbook suggested mid-table Roma would struggle against the English champions and struggle they did against a side that managed to score three goals from three shots on target all night.
In the end, with the match still evenly balanced on 1-1 it was that number 14 who decided things, first with an opportunist 70th minute goal that made the most of a Christian Panucci defensive error, and then with an impeccable free kick six minutes later.
It had all begun with a tremendous bang with both sides finding the net in the opening six minutes. Things were still at the shadow-boxing stage when Marco Delvecchio eluded Oleg Luzhny before sending away the boy wonder of Italian soccer, namely Antonio Cassano.
The Roma striker appeared to overdo things and just when it appeared that he had missed his chance he got in a poorly struck shot that crept under Arsenal's reserve goalkeeper Rami Shaaban before bouncing off the post and spinning fortuitously into the net. Less than four minutes gone and it was 1-0 for the home side.
The Roma fans were still celebrating that opening goal when Henry struck back one minute later with a brilliant counter-attacking goal that owed something to sloppy Roma marking and much to absolutely peerless finishing from the prolific Frenchman.
Found out wide on the left by Robert Pires, Henry left Christian Panucci for dead before placing an immaculate low shot wide of goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli from an oblique angle.
The sheer breathtaking class of Henry's goal completely deflated Roma. For much of the next quarter hour they were spectators, chasing Arsenal shadows as the North London side gave an object lesson in possession football.
It was Panucci, so clearly culpable for Henry's goal, who initiated the Roma revival with an excellent run to the edge of the area that yielded a corner. From the subsequent kick, Totti and Frenchman Vincent Candela combined cleverly to set up a half chance which ended prematurely when the Roma captain was upended in the penalty area in an incident that looked like a penalty only to Totti himself.
Taking heart, Roma then pulled off the best move of the first half when Lima sent Cafu away down the right wing. Meeting the pass perfectly, Cafu delivered a sharp cross that outfoxed goalkeeper Shaaban, leaving Totti with a clear strike on goal.
The Roma captain, playing with the help of painkillers and not looking at his best, managed to chest it down and take his chance well, only for French defender Pascal Cygan to get back to make an excellent goalline clearance.
Arsenal will take even further pleasure from the night with the other match in the group between Ajax and Valencia ending in a 1-1 draw .
ROMA: Antonioli, Panucci, Candela, Cafu, Zebina , Samuel, Lima (Batistuta 73), Emerson, Cassano (Montella 64), Delvecchio (Guigou 57), Totti. Subs Not Used: Pelizzoli, Cufre, Bombardini, Guardiola. Booked: Samuel, Emerson, Batistuta. Goals: Cassano 4.
ARSENAL: Shaaban, Cole, Campbell, Luzhny, Cygan, Ljungberg (Edu 90), Vieira, Silva, Wiltord (Keown 84), Henry, Pires (van Bronckhorst 78). Subs Not Used: Taylor, Jeffers, Stepanovs, Volz. Goals: Henry 6, 70, 75.
Referee: L Michel (Slovakia).
REMAINING FIXTURES
Dec 10th: Ajax Amsterdam v AS Roma
Arsenal v Valencia
Feb 18th: Arsenal v Ajax Amsterdam
AS Roma v Valencia
Feb 26th: Ajax Amsterdam v Arsenal
Valencia v AS Roma
Mar 11th: Arsenal v AS Roma
Ajax Amsterdam v Valencia
Mar 19th: AS Roma v Ajax Amsterdam
Valencia v Arsenal
