Roma 3 CSKA Moscow 0: Dzeko turns on the style
Edin Dzeko scored twice as Roma cruised to second place in Champions League Group G with a 3-0 win over CSKA Moscow.
Edin Dzeko continued his fine run of form in the Champions League by scoring twice and setting up another to lead Roma to a 3-0 victory over CSKA Moscow in Group G.
Following a hat-trick in Roma's last Champions League outing against Viktoria Plzen, Dzeko was at his best again on Tuesday, taking the game away from CSKA – who beat defending champions Real Madrid in their previous outing – in the space of 13 first-half minutes.
Having rounded off a superb passing move for Roma's opener, the Bosnia-Herzegovina striker doubled the hosts' tally with a typically composed finish in the 43rd minute.
Dzeko was not done there, though, claiming an assist five minutes into the second half when Cengiz Under hammered home to wrap up the points and move Roma up to second.
Eusebio Di Francesco's side were second best early on but went ahead on the half-hour mark, Dzeko nudging home from Lorenzo Pellegrini's cutback at the culmination of an exquisite team move.
An under-hit pass towards Under stopped the former Manchester City striker from turning provider, while the impressive Nikola Vlasic tested Robin Olsen at the other end.
But Roma got their second when Stephan El Shaarawy teed up Dzeko, who made no mistake with a first-time strike into the bottom-left corner.
Roma showed no signs of slowing down after the restart and made it three when Under thumped in a half-volley from Dzeko's knock-down.
Dzeko sent a header from inside the six-yard box wide to miss out on his hat-trick and a tremendous stop from Ilya Pomazun stopped Alessandro Florenzi from making the victory even more comprehensive in the 92nd minute.