Perrotta snatches Roma win

Simeone Perrotta scored the only goal as Roma beat Olympiakos 1-0.

The Greek outfit were by far the better side for the entire first half but failed to make best use of their domination.

Luciano Spalletti's Roma hardly had a shot in the opening 45 but will take the points back to Italy thanks to a second-half strike from Perrotta after a neat pull-back from the substitute Aleandro Rosi.

The first 45 was a fairly ordinary affair, with both sides struggling to put together a string of passes and neither goalkeeper forced into too much action.

Predrag Djordjevic fired high over the crossbar and Nery Alberto Castillo saw a shot blocked in the only noteworthy action in the first 30 minutes.

Michalis Konstantinou had a goal ruled out for offside, while at the other end, the best Roma could muster was a mis-hit cross from Rodrigo Taddei that sailed just wide of the far post.

Rivaldo began to stamp his authority on the game in the final ten minutes of the half and the Brazilian superstar fired a dangerous corner across the face of goal that was missed by everyone before sending an ambitious long-range volley straight at Doni.

Doni was then forced into a more difficult save by the lively Castillo, who cut inside from the right wing and curled a 20-yard effort goalwards that was smartly pushed away by the Roma keeper.

Konstantinou should have put Olympiakos ahead just before the break, but saw his header from Rivaldo's free kick come back off the crossbar.

Christian Panucci looked like finally forcing Antonis Nikopolidis into action in first-half stoppage time but skewed his shot from distance wide of the Greek goalkeeper's post.

Nikopolidis finally got his hands on the ball eight minutes into the second half when Panucci's tame cross-shot went straight into his hands.

Roma were looking far better in the second half but were lacking their finishing touch, with the usually reliable Francesco Totti blazing over from a good position.

Cristian Chivu was smartly denied by Nikopolidis from a free kick and Taddei saw the follow-up blocked as Roma began to create opportunities to take the lead.

Milos Maric twice went wide with shots from range at Roma's goal and Olympiakos' inability to score when on top came back to haunt them with 15 minutes remaining.

A neat build-up led to Rosi picking up the ball inside the Olympiakos area and his ball back across goal was pounced on at the near post by Perrotta.

The Italian international made no mistake from close in on Nikopolidis' goal as he poked the ball past the veteran keeper.

Olympiakos pushed for an equaliser but their day was compounded when Maric's free kick from an excellent position was fired tamely into the wall.

Totti almost added a second late in stoppage time, but pulled his shot across the face of goal in the final act of the match.

Click here for player ratings