Fantastic Fred gives Shakhtar edge over Roma

SHAKHTAR DONETSK fought back from a goal down as Fred’s freekick gave the Ukrainian champions a 2-1 victory over Roma yesterday in their Champions League last 16, first leg in Kharkiv.

Turkish youngster Cengiz Under marked his Champions League debut for Roma with a well-taken 41st-minute opener.

But second-half strikes from Facundo Ferreyra and Fred left the tie finely balanced ahead of the return game at the Stadio Olimpico in three weeks’ time.

Roma, looking to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in 10 years, started brightly while Shakhtar, who only returned to competitive action last weekend after the winter break, left the visitors too much space in midfield.

The Italians had a chance to go ahead in the sixth minute, but goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov saved well to deny Edin Dzeko.

In the 21st minute, Dzeko forced Pyatov into another diving save with a low shot from the edge of the area after a quick counter-attack.

But the keeper was unable to prevent Under from putting Roma ahead four minutes before halftime.

Under has been a revelation in recent weeks for Roma and has now scored five goals in his last four appearances.

But after the interval Shakhtar, who had won three of their four previous meetings with Roma in the Champions League, moved up a gear.

A long ball forward by fullback Yaroslav Rakitskiy picked out Ferreyra, who dribbled into the box to slip the ball under the onrushing Alisson Becker.

The hosts continued to cut apart the Roma defence, but Brazil keeper Alisson was on top form.

But Fred put Shakhtar into the lead with a magnificent freekick with 19 minutes to play.

It could have been even better for Shakhtar as they bid for a first appearance in the last eight since 2011, but Roma substitute Bruno Peres made an extraordinary goalline block while lying on the ground to deny Ferreyra in the final minute of injury-time.

“Obviously, 2-1 is not the result we wanted, but we’re still in this tie,” Alisson told Mediaset.

“Let’s not forget our first half was excellent. Shakhtar have quality and it just came down to minor things tonight.”

The Roma goalkeeper drew praise from his coach Eusebio Di Francesco.

“Alisson’s biggest quality is not just just his saves, but his overall presence, he gives us a great deal of confidence,” explained Di Francesco.

“He doesn’t dive just to look pretty in photos, he does it when he has to to make saves.” – AFP/dpa