BATE Borisov hold off Roma fightback to stun Italians in Champions League
Belarusian champions BATE Borisov shocked Italian side Roma with a 3-2 win at the Borisov-Arena in Champions League Group E.
The current runaway leaders in Belarus hit the visitors with two goals inside the first 12 minutes from Igor Stasevich and Filip Mladenovic before the latter struck a third just after the half hour.
Gervinho and Vasilis Torosidis scored for Roma, but the defeat left the Serie A outfit bottom of the group with one point from two games as BATE enjoyed their first win over Italian opposition at the 10th attempt.
The home side took the lead when Stasevich scored after eight minutes as Roma failed to clear a ball which ricocheted around the area and the midfielder was on hand to head home.
Just flour minutes later Alyaksandr Yermakovich's side were further ahead as Mladenovic shot from 30 yards out and beat Wojciech Szczesny, who had been restored to the side by Rudi Garcia following a finger injury.
With just over half-an-hour gone BATE made it three when Mladenovic claimed his second goal by firing past Szczesny after battling his way into the area.
After losing 4-1 to Bayer Leverkusen in their opening match of the group as Roma were holding Barcelona to a 1-1 draw, the minnows were giving a fine account of themselves.
Szczesny prevented BATE from going further ahead when Nikolay Signevich tested him with a shot which this time the Polish keeper put behind for a corner.
Mohamed Salah was off target with a shot when one-on-one with keeper Sergey Chernik as Roma tried to finish the half with a flourish.
Roma's Alessandro Florenzi unleashed a fierce shot for the visitors, but defender Kaspars Dubra got his head in the way at the expense of a corner.
At the other end Daniele De Rossi came to the visitors' rescue when he blocked a shot from Evgeni Yablonski in the box with 58 minutes gone.
Iago Falque tested Chernik, but the keeper saved with his legs before Roma pulled a goal back with 66 minutes gone.
Gervinho was the man to give Garcia's team hope as the Ivory Coast forward beat Cernik after being played through by Falque.
Substitute Torosidis ensured a nervous finish with Roma's second goal from close range with eight minutes remaining.
Florenzi's shot hit the bar two minutes later as the home side continued to live dangerously, but they had done just enough to record a famous win.
BATE 3 Roma 2: Mladenovic double stuns visitors
Rudi Garcia saw his Roma side suffer a shock 3-2 loss to BATE in the Champions League, spoiling his 100th match in charge of the club.
Filip Mladenovic was the unlikely hero for the hosts in Borisov, as his two goals helped BATE record a shock 3-2 win over Roma in Group E of the Champions League.
The left-back twice blasted shots beyond Wojciech Szczesny to help his side secure a famous result, although they were forced to cling on in the closing stages as Roma mounted a spirited fightback.
Igor Stasevich had broken the deadlock as BATE stunned their opponents with three first-half goals on the way to making it a miserable 100th game in charge for Roma manager Rudi Garcia.
Gervinho and Vasilis Torosidis replied after the break, but the Serie A side's inadequacies at the back - they have now failed to keep a clean sheet in Champions League action for 18 consecutive matches - cost them dear.
Their hopes of marking their manager's milestone with a win were rocked by a shocking first-half display in which BATE struck three times in the opening half an hour.
The deadlock was broken after only eight minutes, Stasevich popping up at the far post to head home the rebound after Mikhail Gordeichuk's effort had struck the bar.
Mladenovic doubled the home side's advantage when he embarrassed Szczesny from long range.
Positioning himself for a potential cross into the area, the Roma goalkeeper was unable to move quickly enough to his right to deal with a speculative long-range shot from out wide.
The Poland international - who is on a season-long loan deal at the Serie A club from Arsenal - hardly covered himself in glory with the third BATE goal, again scored by Mladenovic.
The left-back galloped onto Maksim Volodko's inside pass before unleashing a powerful strike that flashed over the head of Szczesny and into the far corner of the net.
Garcia spent much of the first 45 minutes scribbling down notes, though he did look up from his piece of paper long enough to order a tactical change, sending on Iago Falque to replace Champions League debutant William Vainqueur.
Any hopes of a comeback required a quick goal, but they had to wait until 20 minutes after the break to grab a lifeline.
Falque set up the chance for Gervinho to finally beat Sergey Chernik, and nerves were jangling among the home fans when half-time replacement Torosidis turned home a second with eight minutes remaining.
Roma came agonisingly close to an equaliser almost immediately afterwards, but Alessandro Florenzi's thumping effort ricocheted off the bar and away to safety.
That, though, was as close as Roma came to rescuing anything from the match. The result leaves them bottom of a group that also contains Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen.
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