Stephan El Shaarawy’s first-half brace set Roma on the way to a resounding 3-0 win over Chelsea that displaced their visitors at the top of Champions League Group C.
Antonio Conte’s reigning Premier League champions would have secured a last-16 spot with a win but that appeared a tall order from the moment El Shaarawy opened the scoring after 39 seconds.
The former AC Milan forward scored spectacularly to sink Bologna 1-0 in Serie A last time out and his rasping opener was another goal to remember.
For his second, El Shaarawy owed much to the charity of Antonio Rudiger, the Chelsea defender who endured a forgettable return to his former club, before Diego Perotti brought the house down with another stunning long ranger after the hour.
Roma were the side to come back from a hefty deficit when the sides drew 3-3 at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago but Chelsea were not such willing dance partners and must now dust themselves down for a crunch clash with Manchester United this weekend.
Eusebio Di Francesco’s hosts coughed up a chance from kick-off but found themselves a goal to the good inside a pulsating first minute.
Chelsea forward Pedro latched on to Tiemoue Bakayoko’s pass to shoot tamely at Alisson before Aleksandar Kolarov carried the ball forward in response and launched a searching pass from the left towards Edin Dzeko.
The striker misjudged the flight of the ball but it struck the back of his head and fell invitingly for El Shaarawy to lash home an unstoppable shot from 25 yards, with Thibaut Courtois rooted to the spot.
Chelsea responded well to the setback, with Eden Hazard to the fore.
The Belgium playmaker, so impressive in their win at Atletico Madrid last month, was forced a fraction wide before calling Alisson into action and the Brazil goalkeeper thwarted him once more in the 20th minute after some sparkling footwork left Alessandro Florenzi and Federico Fazio perplexed.
An ill-judged backpass across goal by Kolarov presented Alvaro Morata with a chance to level – the Spain striker blazing over – before Roma sprung forward to double their advantage nine minutes before the break.
Radja Nainggolan’s chipped pass forward was horribly misjudged by Rudiger, who let the ball run past him and El Shaarawy stole in to finish tidily.
Marcos Alonso cut in from the left and forced Alisson to push a rasping shot behind, while Bakayoko compounded Chelsea’s woes by powering a header wastefully wide from the resulting corner.
Roma resumed with a determination to put the result beyond doubt, as Kolarov burst into the area to have a shot deflected behind.
Dzeko, Chelsea’s chief tormentor at Stamford Bridge, was unable to turn home Perotti’s subsequent set-piece and the former Manchester City striker collected El Shaarawy’s pass to let fly only to narrowly beat the crossbar in the 53rd minute.
At the other end, Morata was a forward grasping more unconvincingly for form as he dragged tamely wide en route to concluding a sixth scoreless outing.
Di Francesco’s side sealed the points with another majestic strike, albeit one assisted by Cesc Fabregas carelessly coughing up 63rd-minute possession to Kolarov.
The experienced left-back fed Perotti, who cut inside an apologetic challenge from Cesar Azpilicueta and arrowed a superb low drive past Courtois at his near post.
Perotti passed up a more straightforward opportunity, blazing over from 12 yards after Dzeko led Rudiger, Azpilicueta and David Luiz a merry dance, and Courtois’ point-blank save from substitute Kostas Manolas spared further damage.
Atletico’s surprise 1-1 draw at home to Qarabag means Chelsea’s qualification hopes are not too badly compromised but, given Conte’s recent agitation regarding questions over his future in west London, this was an ill-timed and punishing reverse.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain(PSG) destroyed Anderlecht 5-0 on Tuesday to seal their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with two group games to spare.
Bayern in the same group have also qualified for the next stage, after beating Celtic 2-1.
Marco Verratti and Neymar had scored brilliant first-half goals for the hosts at the Parc des Princes to leave the Belgian side demoralised and with too much to do to turn the game around.
However, left-back Layvin Kurzawa was the unexpected hat-trick hero.
Marco Verratti and Neymar had scored brilliant first-half goals for the hosts at the Parc des Princes to leave the Belgian side demoralised and with too much to do to turn the game around.
Kurzawa then scored his three goals in the second half and the result, combined with Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win away to Celtic, allowed the French giants to secure their place in the knockout phase for a sixth consecutive season, the essential assured before the start of November.
Unai Emery’s expensively assembled squad have won all four games in Champions League Group B, scoring 17 goals and conceding none, and can now focus on securing top spot with a home game against Celtic and a trip to Bayern — who are three points behind — still to come.
Anderlecht, in contrast, are yet to register a point or even score a goal in the competition after this latest defeat which followed a 4-0 reverse at home to PSG a fortnight ago.
They could still pip Celtic to the consolation of third and a Europa League spot in the New Year, but their approach to this game was telling, with coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck suggesting that an upcoming domestic league meeting with Club Brugge was his priority.
Manchester United were also close to the brink of the Champions League knockout phase after more inadvertent generosity from Benfica goalkeeper Mile Svilar helped them to a 2-0 victory on Tuesday.
Having carried a Marcus Rashford free-kick into his own net to gift United victory in the reverse fixture, 18-year-old Svilar scored an unwitting own goal when Nemanja Matic’s shot hit the post and went in off his back.
Daley Blind’s 78th-minute penalty completed victory, but with CSKA Moscow beating Basel in the other Group A game, United were left needing one point from their final two games to be certain of a last 16 berth.
Rui Vitoria’s Benfica remain bottom of the group with no points after their fifth successive European defeat — the worst run in the club’s history — and can no longer qualify for the knockout rounds.
Belgian youth international Svilar for one will be glad to see the back of United, particularly after he appeared to have atoned for his blunder in Lisbon two weeks ago by saving an early penalty from Anthony Martial.
With four wins from four games, United are six points clear at the top of the group and only a minor miracle will prevent them from reaching the knockout rounds for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
Jose Mourinho’s side visit Basel on November 22 before closing their campaign at home to CSKA next month.
Rewarded with a starting berth for his match-winning cameo in United’s 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Martial won but then squandered a 15th-minute penalty.
In attempting to curb the Frenchman’s driving run into the box from the United left, Douglas lost his footing and handled the ball.
Martial took the penalty himself, steering it towards the bottom-left corner, but Svilar got down to turn the ball around the post.
