Roma comeback
November 24, 2010
Bayern Munich squandered a two-goal lead to hand victory to Champions League opponents Roma in Tuesday's soccer action.
Louis van Gaal's men, who have already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition, went ahead through two goals from in-form striker Mario Gomez.
Although Roma started well, it was Gomez who broke the deadlock on 34 minutes, when Franck Ribery skillfully turned the ball to Gomez, who beat defender Marco Cassetti to put the ball into the corner of goal.
Five minutes later, a misplaced pass from Roma's Jeremy Menez was picked up by Thomas Mueller. The German midfielder's pass allowed Gomez to double his tally, firing in across goalkeeper Julio Sergio. The goal means Gomez has now scored 14 goals in his last 10 games.
With Bayern cruising, it was up to Roma to muster a strong comeback if they were to boost their chances of qualification.
The Italian revival began after the restart, when Roma coach Claudio Ranieri moved Menez from behind the attack to wide right.
Menez easily beat Bayern's Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Martin Demichelis to cross the ball for forward Marco Borriello.
Although Boriello fell as tried to control the pass, he was still able to flick the ball into goal past keeper Thomas Kraft.
Late goals seal win
The equalizer came nine minutes from time, as John Arne Riise fired the ball across the box for Daniele De Rossi to put away.
Substitute Francesco Totti made it 3-2 from the penalty spot on 84 minutes, after Borriello was brought down by goalkeeper Thomas Kraft.
Coach Louis van Gaal criticized his side for throwing away a lead. "The problem was, we lost too many balls and gave too many chances to Roma," said van Gaal. "We’ve thrown away a game again."
Van Gaal's criticism of his players comes as the Dutch coach is increasingly under fire for his management style.
On Tuesday, midfielder Ribery said he was disappointed to hear van Gaal accuse him of a lacklustre performance in a friendly against third division side Unterhaching. Van Gaal has also been accused of arrogance by club boss Uli Hoeness.
Bayern still top Group E with 12 points and cannot be supplanted by second-place Roma, who have an inferior head-to head record with the Bavarians.
In Wednesday's Champions League football, Schalke play host to Lyon and Bremen are away to London side Tottenham Hotspur.
Author: Richard Connor (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Catherine Bolsover