Roma draw blank as Lyon get a share of the spoils

Uefa Champions League: AS Roma 0 - Olympique Lyon 0AS Roma and Olympique Lyon played out a cagey 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Champions League first knock-out round tie last night.

It was a stop-start contest, most notable for the large number of niggling fouls and the 11 yellow cards handed out by the English referee Mike Riley, who equalled the competition record for most cards in a match.

Lyon dominated early possession at Rome's Olympic Stadium, but the closest they went to scoring was in the seventh minute, when Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi headed against his own post.

Roma gradually worked their way back into the match. Their best chances were two second-half free kicks by Francesco Totti, both well-parried by visiting keeper Gregory Coupet to leave the tie evenly balanced for the return leg on March 6th.

De Rossi was the weakest link early on in an out-of-sorts Roma side. Having narrowly avoided scoring an own goal, the Italian international almost cost his team again midway through the first half when he was caught in possession by Florent Malouda.

The midfielder's jinking run only ended on the edge of the box when keeper Doni dived to smother at his feet. A long-range effort by Tiago that Doni easily caught and a deflected shot by Roma winger Mancini that flew wide closed out the first half.

The second half, which began with a yellow card for Lyon defender Jeremy Toulalan that means he will miss the return leg, was a turgid affair in which neither side seemed prepared to commit to attack.

Roma failed to muster a single shot from open play, while Lyon's best chance came when Doni beat away a Juninho free kick.

AS ROMA: Doni, Panucci, Mexes, Ferrari, Tonetto, Taddei (Vucinic 86), De Rossi, Pizarro, Mancini (Wilhelmsson 76), Perrotta, Totti. Subs not used: Curci, Faty, Defendi, Rosi, Cassetti. Booked: Mexes, Panucci, Pizarro, Mancini, Taddei, Totti, Tonetto, De Rossi.

OLYMPIQUE LYON: Coupet, Clerc, Cris, Squillaci, Abidal, Tiago, Toulalan, Juninho, Govou, Fred (Baros 74), Malouda. Subs not used: Vercoutre, Cacapa, Kallstrom, Reveillere, Ben Arfa, Fabio Santos. Booked: Juninho, Govou, Toulalan.

Referee: Mike Riley (England).