The Hindu : Sport : Krkic stars in Barcelona’s big win

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Krkic stars in Barcelona’s big win

Captain John Terry’s late strike gives Chelsea win over AS Roma

— PHOTO: AP

Heady action: John Terry (right) put an end to Chelsea’s anxiety with a 77th-minute goal which turned out to be the match-winner against AS Roma.

LONDON: FC Barcelona moved to the verge of a place in the next round of the Champions League with a big win over FC Basel on Wednesday, and Chelsea and Inter Milan also look set to be there after narrow victories.

Bojan Krkic scored twice to lead Barcelona to a 5-0 win in Switzerland and Chelsea captain John Terry scored late to give Chelsea a 1-0 win over AS Roma. Inter beat Anorthosis Famagusta 1-0 to take control of its group, while PSV Eindhoven, Bordeaux and Sporting Lisbon also won.

Barcelona’s win made it the only team in the 32-club competition to have a perfect record through three matches after Liverpool and Atletico Madrid lost their 100 per cent streaks with a 1-1 draw in Spain, where Simao Sabrosa equalised for the home side with seven minutes remaining.

Two late goals

Barcelona, which won the last of its two titles in 2006, needed two very late goals to beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in its last Champions League match but had no such problems on Wednesday and took the lead after just four minutes.

Lionel Messi scored first when he collected a chip from Daniel Alves and side-footed the ball past goalkeeper Franco Costanzo. Barcelona got another in the 15th when Sergi Busquets scored from a pass by Xavi Hernandez and Krkic scored seven minutes later with a low shot from the edge of the area.

Even with star striker Samuel Eto’o on the substitutes’ bench, Barcelona totally dominated and created three chances to make it 3-0 before the first half hour was over. Alves sent a shot over the bar following a well-worked move from a free-kick, Krkic had a shot blocked and Alves’s effort from the rebound was saved by Costanzo.

Krkic extended his team’s lead just a minute into the second half, rounding off a speedy counterattack with a low shot, and Xavi Hernandez made it 5-0 in the 48th with a strike from the edge of the area.

Barcelona has nine points in Group C, three more than Sporting Lisbon, which won at Shakhtar 1-0 through a 76th-minute goal by Liedson. Basel was stranded in last place without a single point.

Lacklustre win

Inter won but could only follow its 4-0 destruction of Roma at the weekend with a lacklustre victory over visiting Anorthosis Famagusta, with Adriano getting the only goal in the 44th.

Inter leads Group B with seven points. Anorthosis has four points, one more than Werder Bremen, which equalised in the 83rd through Hugo Almeida for a 2-2 draw at Panathinaikos.

Elsewhere, Chelsea and Liverpool both laboured in efforts to carry impressive Premier League form into Europe.

The results: Group A: Girondins Bordeaux 1 (Cadu 54, own goal) bt CFR Cluj 0; Chelsea 1 (John Terry 77) bt AS Roma 0.

Group B: Inter Milan 1 (Adriano 44) bt Anorthosis Famagusta 0; Panathinaikos 2 (Vangelis Mantzios 36, 68) drew with Werder Bremen 2 (Per Mertesacker 29, Hugo Almeida 83).

Group C: Basel 0 lost to Barcelona 5 (Lionel Messi 4, Sergi Busquets 15, Bojan Krkic 22, 46, Xavi 48); Shakhtar Donetsk 0 lost to Sporting 1 (Liedson 76).

Group D: Atletico Madrid 1 (Simao Sabrosa 83) drew with Liverpool 1 (Robbie Keane 14); PSV Eindhoven 2 (Danny Koevermans 71, 85) bt Olympique Marseille 0.

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